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The Story of a 

Confederate Boy 

in the Civil 

War 

By 

David E. Johnston 

of the 1th Virginia 
Infantry Regiment 

Author of 

'* Middle New River 

Settlements'* 



With Introduction by 

Rev. C. E. Cline, D.D. 

A Methodist Minister and 

Chaplain of the Military Order of the 

Loyal Legion, U. S. A. 



11 



Copyright, 1914 

BY 
DAVID E. JOHNSTON 



SEP -8 1914 

PUBLISHED BY 

GLASS ft PRUDHOMME COMPANY 

PORTLAND, OREGON 

©CI.A379396 



t-tor 



Preface 

Some twenty-eight years ago I wrote and pub- 
lished a small book recounting my personal ex- 
periences in the Civil War, but this book is long 
out of print, and the publication exhausted. At 
the urgent request of some of my old comrades 
who still survive, and of friends and my own 
family, I have undertaken the task of rewriting 
and publishing this story. 

As stated in the preface to the former volume, 
the principal object of this work is to record, largely 
from memory, and after the lapse of many years 
(now nearly half a century) since the termination 
of the war between the states of the Federal Union, 
the history, conduct, character and deeds of the 
men who composed Company D, Seventh regiment 
of Virginia infantry, and the part they bore in 
that memorable conflict. 

The chief motive which inspires this undertak- 
ing is to give some meager idea of the Confederate 
soldier in the ranks, and of his individual deeds of 
heroism, particularly of that patriotic, self-sacrific- 
ing, brave company of men with whose fortunes and 
destiny my own were linked for four long years 
of blood and carnage, and to whom during that 
period I was bound by ties stronger than hooks of 
steel ; whose confidence and friendship I fully 
shared, and as fully reciprocated. 



To the surviving members of that company, to 
the widows and children, broken-hearted mothers, 
and to gray-haired, disconsolate fathers (if such 
still live) of those who fell amidst the battle and 
beneath its thunders, or perished from wounds or 
disease, this work is dedicated. The character of 
the men who composed that company, and their 
deeds of valor and heroism, will ever live, and in 
the hearts of our people will be enshrined the names 
of the gallant dead as well as of the living, as the 
champions of constitutional liberty. They will be 
held in grateful remembrance by their own coun- 
trymen, appreciated and recognized by all people 
of all lands, who admire brave deeds, true courage, 
and devotion of American soldiers to cause and 
country. 

For some of the dates and material I am in- 
debted to comrades. I also found considerable in- 
formation from letters written by myself during 
the war to a friend, not in the army, and not sub- 
ject to military duty, on account of sex; who, as 
I write, sits by me, having now (February, 1914), 
for a period of more than forty-six years been the 
sharer of my joys, burdens and sorrows; whose 
only brother, George Dahiel Pearis, a boy of seven- 
teen years, and a member of Bryan's Virginia bat- 
tery, fell mortally wounded in the battle of Cloyd's 
Farm, May 9, 1864. 

DAVID E. JOHNSTON. 

Portland, Oregon, May, 1914. 



Introduction 

The author of this book is my neighbor. He 
was a Confederate, and I a Union soldier. Vir- 
ginia born, he worked hard in youth. A country 
lawyer, a member of the Senate of West Virginia, 
Representative in Congress, and Circuit Judge, his 
life has been one of activity and achievement. 
Blessed with a face and manner which disarm 
suspicion, inspire confidence and good will, he 
makes new friends, and retains old ones. 

Judge Johnston (having through life practiced 
the virtues of a good Baptist), is, therefore, morally 
sound to the core. He has succeeded, not by luck 
or chance, but because of what he is. Withal, he 
has cultivated the faculty for hard work; in fact, 
through life he has liked nothing so well as hard 
work. 

A vast good nature, running easily into jocular 
talk, with interesting stories, in which he excels, 
he is able to meet every kind of man in every rank 
of society, catching with unerring instinct the tem- 
per of every individual and company where he is. 

He is thoroughly American, and though having 
traveled extensively in Europe and the East, he is 
not spoiled with aping foreigners, nor "rattled" 
by their frivolous accomplishments. He is like- 
wise an experienced writer, being the author of 
the history of "Middle New River Settlements, and 



Contiguous Territory," in Virginia and West Vir- 
ginia, a work of great value, which cx>st the author 
years of persistent research. 

This volume, 'The Story of a Confederate Boy," 
is written from the heart, with all his might, and 
all his honesty, and is characterized throughout by 
fertility, sympathy, and magnanimity, in recording 
his own personal experiences, and what he saw. 

C. E. CLINE. 
Portland, Oregon. 



VI 



Contents 

Chapter. Page. 

I. Pre-election Statement as to Mr. Lincoln. — The 

Presidential Electio'n in November, 1860. — 
Fear and Anxiety. — At School with Rev. 
J. W. Bennett in Winter 1860 and Spring 
1861. — Debating- Society. — Some Recollec- 
tions of Colonel Chambers and Others. — 
Strong State Rights Ideas. — Desire to Be- 
come a Soldier. — The Anticipation and the 
Reality. — Retur'n Home. — War Talk and 
Feeling 1 

II. Giles County, Its Formation and Early Set- 

tlers. — Its Geographical Position, Topog- 
raphy and Papulation in 1860. — State of 
Political Parties. — Election of Delegate to 
the Convention 9 

III. What Will Not Be Attempted Herein.— How 

the Southern People Viewed the Situation. — 
Virginia as a Peacemaker. — ^The Peace Con- 
ference and Its Failure. — Geographical, Ter- 
ritorial Position. — Assembling of the Con- 
vention and, Its Action. — Mr. Lincoln's At- 
titude and Call for Troops. — Adoption of the 
Ordinance of Secession. — Preparations for 
Defense 15 

IV. Organization of Volunteer Forces. — Giles Not 

Behind Her Sister Counties. — A Company 
Organized at Pearisburg with James H. 
French as Captain; Eustace Gibson, First 
Lieutenant; William A. Anderson, Second 
Lieutenant ; Joel Blackard, Second Junior 
Lieutenant, and Captains James D. Johnston 
and R. F. Watts on the Committee to Pur- 



Chapter Page. 

chase Uniforms, etc. — The Ladies of the 
Town and Country. — In Barracks and on 
Drill. — Anecdote. — Dixie. — Our March to 
Wolf Creek. — Presentation of Bible and 
Fla^ 25 



'fe 



V. The Election for the Ratification of the Ordi- 
nance of Secession Was Held on the Fourth 
Thursday of May — the 23rd. On that Day 
Members of the House of Delegates, and 
Perhaps Other Officers, Were to Be Elected. 
— Our Departure. — Lynchburg and to Ma- 
nassas Junction 39 

VT. Stay at the Junction. — Organization of 24th 
Regiment as Afterwards Completed. — March 
to Camp Davis Ford. — First Night on 
Picket. — Alarm. — March to the Town of 
Occoquan and Back Again. — A War of 
Words. — Serious Fight Imminent. — Leaving 
the 24th Regiment. — Camp Tick Grove and 
a Personal Difference. — A More Perfect 
Union. — Camp Wigfall. — Blo'ndeau's Shot. — 
How We Cooked, Ate and Slept. — Shan- 
non's Bob. — Rumors Afloat of Pending 
Battle. — Three Days' Rations Cooked .... 47 

VII. — Breaking Camp at Wigfall. — The March to 
the Battlefield. — General Beauregard and 
His Appearance and Advice. — First Cannon 
Shot.— Battle of Bull Run.— The Advance.— 
The Charge. — The Wounded. — Isaac Hare 
and John Q. Martin. — Retreat of the 
Enemy. — Severe Artillery Duel. — The Dutch- 
man and His Chunk of Fat Bacon. — Casual- 
ties 61 

VIII. Night's Experience on Our First Battle- 
field. — The Dead and Cries of the Wounded. 
— Occurrences on the Field. — Sunday, July 
21. — Shelled by the Enemy. — March to the 
Field by the Sound of Battle.— The Battle.— 



Chapter. P^g«- 

Casualties.— The Pursuit.— To the Outposts. 
— Incidents. — Winter at Centerville 69 

IX. Our Daily Duties.— In Camp.— Among the 

Last Rencounters. — Lieutenant Gibson, Cor- 
poral Stone and Others Hold a Council of 
War and Determine to Advance and Drive 
McClellan from Arlington Heights.— March 
to the Outposts.— Graybacks.— Religious 
Exercises.— Incidents of Camp. — Depletion 
of the Army. — Re-enlistments and Fur- 
loughs. — Retreat from Manassas Behind the 
Rappahannock. — Albert and Snidow.— Gor- 
donsville 83 

X. The Stay Near Gordonsville.— The March to 

Richmond and Journey to Yorktown.— In 
the Trenches. — Skirmishing and Night 
Alarms. — Reorganization. — The Retreat from 
Yorktown.— The Old Lady's Prayer.— 
Battle of Williamsburg.— The Killed and 
Wounded.— Forces and Numbers Engaged 
and Losses. — Retreat Up the Peninsula. — 
Battle of Seven Pines. — Casualties 93 

XI. Preparations for Active Field Service. — 

Dress Parade and Speeches of General Kem- 
per and Colonel Patton.— Battles Around 
Richmond.— Gaines' Mill or Cold Harbor.— 
Frazier's Farm and Malvern Hill.— Testing 
a Man's Courage.— Casualties.— In Pursuit 
of the Enemy. — In Camp Near the Chicka- 
hominy.— Sickness and Death. — Threatening 
Attitude of the Enemy in Northern Virginia. 
— Concentration of the Confederate Army on 
the Rappahannock. — Pope's Bravado. — 
Lieutenant Hugh M. Patton Succeeds Stark 
as Adjutant, and Sergeant Parke Appointed 
Sergeant-Major, Succeeding George S. 
Tansill 107 



Chapter. Page. 

XIL General Jackson With His "Foot Cavalry."— 
On the Flank and in the Rear of General 
Pope's Army. — Longstreet's Division Divert- 
ing the Enemy's Attention on the Rappahan- 
nock. — March Through Thoroughfare Gap. 
— Haymarket to the Relief of Jackson's Men. 
—The Fight on the 29th.— Battle of August 
30, 1862. — Kemper Commands Division, 
Corse Leads the Brigade. — Pope Defeated. — 
Casualties. — Rainstorm and March Through 
Leesburg to White's Ford. — Crossing the 
Potomac. — The Cry ''Back to Washington" 
and not "On to Richmond." — "Maryland, My 
Maryland," "Bonnie Blue Flag."— Halt at 
Monacacy Bridge 123 

Xni. A Soldier's Equipment. — Washing His 
Clothes. — How He Ate and Slept. — March 
Through Frederick. — Middletown. — Hagers- 
town. — A Soldier in Active Service in the 
Field. — What He Possesses. — Indications of 
Southern Sympathy. — The Return from 
Hagerstown. — Battle of Boonsboro and Cas- 
ualties. — Retreat to Sharpsburg 135 

XIV. Number of Men for Action in Kemper's 
Brigade. — General D. R. Jones' Division. — 
Confederate Cavalry. — General Lee Playing 
Bluff with McClellan.— The Opening of the 
Battle. — Burnside's Attack and Repulse. — 
Casualties. — Re-crossing the Potomac . . . 145 

XV. From Winchester to Culpeper. — Reorganiza- 
tion of the Army. — What Happened at Cul- 
peper. — To Fredericksburg and Battle 
There. — In Winter Quarters. — Incidents of 
the Camp 163 

XVI. Leaving Camp. — March Through Spottsyl- 
vania. — Louisa. — Hanover, Petersburg. — 
First North Carolina Campaign. — Heavy 
Snowfall and Battle. — Accident to Anderson 



Chapter. Page. 

Meadows Near Chester. — Camp Near Peters- 
burg. — Gardner Exchanges Hats. — Lieuten- 
ant Stone in a Box. — To Weldon, Goldsboro 
and Kinston. — At Suffolk, Virginia; Return 
via Petersburg, Chester, Richmond, to 
Taylorsville. — John, the Drummer Boy. — 
Professor Hughes, Frank Burrows, and 
Others. — Across the Pamunky, Return and 
to Culpeper 177 

XVn. Pennsylvania Campaign of July, 1863. — 
Culpeper and Snicker's Gap. — Fording the 
Potomac. — Shooting a Deserter. — Pennsyl- 
vania Invaded. — Chambersburg. — My Dream. 
— Willoughby Run.— Roll Call 191 

XVni. Finishing Roll Call.— March to the Field. 
— Inspection of Arms. — Fearful Artillery 
Duel. — The Charge. — Killed and Wounded. 
— Army Retires. — Crosses the Potomac . . 199 

XIX. Sketches and Incidents While a Wounded 
Prisoner. — How Long in the Field Hospital. 
— The Walk to Gettysburg and Kindness 
Shown Me By a Federal Captain. — In Box 
Cars and Ride to Baltimore. — What Oc- 
curred in Baltimore. — To Chester, Pa. — Dr. 
Schafer and Another. — Paroled and Back to 
Dixie 221 

XX. Return to My Command. — Long Stay at 
Taylorsville in November and December, 
1863, and Part of January, 1864.— Dr. Black- 
well's Address. — Our Second North Caro- 
lina Campaign. — General and Mrs. Pickett 
and Baby George. — Back in Virginia. — The 
Advance to Newbern. — Capture and Execu- 
tion of Deserters. — In Camp at Goldsboro. — 
Shooting a Confederate Deserter. — The 
Shoemaker's Letter. — Wilmington and 
Mouth of Cape Fear. — Return and to Tar- 
boro. — The Capture of Plymouth, N. C. — 



Chapter. Page. 

To Washington and Newbern. — Return to 
Virginia 231 

XXI. Battle of Dreury's Bluff.— The Forces En- 
gaged. — Casualties. — The Pursuit of Gen- 
eral Butler's Troops. — Bombardment at 
Howlett's House. — The Wounding of Lieu- 
tenant John W. Mullins. — His Death. — 
Withdrawal from Howlett's House 247 

XXII. To Richmond. — Captured Flag's. — Affair at 
Milford. — Tom Yowell's Yarn. — Hanover 
Junction. — North Anna. — Cold Harbor. — 
John A. Hale and His Prisoner. — Malverti 
Hill 259 

XXIII. From Malvern Hill to the South of the 
James. — Engagement at Clay's House. — 
Bermuda Hundred Line. — Christmas Din- 
ner. — Our Southern Women. — Close of 
1864 267 

XXIV. Religion in the Army. — Doctors Pryor, 
Fontaine Stiles. — General Pendleton. — 
Young Men's Christian Association. — 
Frazier, our Preaching-Fighting" Chap- 
lain 285 

XXV. From January, 1865, to Close of Battle of 
Five Forks — Gloomy Outlook at the Open- 
ing of the Year. — The Peace Commission- 
ers. — Spirit of the Army. — A. L. Fry as 
Regimental Clerk and Historian. — Trouble 
in Company D. — Activity Within the Federal 
Li'nes. — General Pendleton's Speech. — 
Early's Small Force Defeated at Waynes- 
1x)ro. — Sheridan's Raid 297 

XXVI. South of the James.— Battles of Din- 
widdie and Five Forks 307 

XXVII. The Retreat.— Battle of Sailor's Creek.— 
Captured 321 

xii 



Chapter. Page. 

XXVIII. To Prison at Point Lookout, Maryland. 
— Prison Life. — Release. — Home 335 

XXIX. The Conclusion.— War Ends.— The Re- 
turn to Civil Pursuits. — The Confederate 
Soldier 349 



xui 



Portraits 

J Page 

David E. Johnsto'n, 16 years old, in Confederate 
uniform and off for the war. . . . Frontispiece 

' Captain James H. French 32 

Lieutenant Eustace Gibson 64 

; Captain Robert H. Bane 80 

Lieutenant EHsha M. Stone 112 

■ Lieutenant John W. Mullins 144 

Corporal Jesse B. Young 208 

Lieutenant Thomas S. Taylor 240 

Rev. J. Tyler Frazier 272 

David E. Johnston, Brigadier-General, Con- 
federate Veterans, and David E. J. Wilson, 

Captain and Aide-de-Camp 304 



Chapter I 



Pre-election Statement as to Mr. Lincoln. 

The Presidential Election in November, 1860. 

Fear and Anxiety. 

At School with Rev. J. W. Bennett, in Winter 
1860 and Spring 1861. 

Debating Society. 

Some Recollections of Colonel Chambers and 
Others. 

Strong State Rights Ideas. 

Desire to Become a Soldier. 

The Anticipation and the Reality. 

Return Home. 

War Talk and Feeling. 



As A BOY, but little more than fifteen years 
of age, I heard and learned much of 
the pre-election news, as well as read 
newspapers, by which I was impressed with the 
thought that Mr. Lincoln was a very homely, 
ugly man, was not at all prepossessing, some of 
the newspapers caricaturing him as the ^'Illinois 
Ape," ''Vulgar Joker of Small Caliber," and much 
other of the same kind of silly rubbish was said 
and published. Some of the negroes inquired if 
he was sure enough a black man. They had 
heard him spoken of as a "Black Republican." 

At the election in November, i860, Mr. Lin- 
coln, the Abolition-Republican candidate, was 
chosen President, which caused/ great anxiety 
and alarm throughout the Southern states — in 
fact, in other parts of the country. This fear was 
intensified later by Mr. Lincoln's utterances in 
his inaugural address, of which more will be said 
in later chapter. 

Late in the Fall of i860, and in the early Spring 
of 1 861, I was at school on Brush Creek, in the 
County of Monroe, Virginia, under the preceptor- 
ship of Rev. James W. Bennett, a ripe scholar 
and genial Christian gentleman. I do not think 
I progressed as rapidly as I might, most prob- 



4 THE STORY OF 

ably on account of some things that tended to dis- 
tract my attention from my studies. Toward the 
ending of the school there was much talk about 
secession and war; in fact, it was the theme of 
every-day conversation. Even the boys in the 
school talked learnedly about the questions, and 
were divided in opinion much in the same pro- 
portion as their fathers, guardians and neighbors. 

As day after day passed and something new 
was constantly happening, the feeling and excite- 
ment became more intense. As the war clouds 
began to arise and seemingly to overshadow us, 
the mutterings of the distant thunder could be 
heard in the angry words of debate and discussion 
in the councils of the country, and at home among 
the extreme advocates of secession on the one 
hand, and those holding extreme views opposed 
to the principle and policy of secession on the 
other. This was not confined to the men alone, 
but, as before stated, the school boys were would- 
be statesmen, and in Mr. Bennett's school organ- 
ized a debating society, in which was most fre- 
quently discussed the question, "Shall Virginia 
Secede from the Union?" — the question being 
generally decided in the negative. 

The meetings of the society were frequently at- 
tended by some of the men of the neighborhood, 
and among them were Col. William Chambers, 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 5 

Major Arnett, and Captain Shue. Colonel Cham- 
bers was a fierce, bold, determined, and uncom- 
promising Union man, opposed to secession in 
any and every form or name in which it could be 
presented, while Major Arnett and Captain Shue 
were much of the same way of thinking, but more 
conservative in their utterances. These men and 
others frequently took part in the debate and some- 
times sat as judges. 

When I took part in the discussion it was gen- 
erally on the affirmative, in favor of secession, 
my sentiments and convictions leading me in that 
direction, though as a matter of fact my ideas 
were very crude, as I knew little of the matter, not 
having at that time attained my sixteenth year. 
I had only caught from my uncle. Chapman I. 
Johnston, who had been educated and trained in 
the State Rights school of politics, some faint 
ideas of the questions involved in the threatened 
rupture. 

Naturally following my early impressions, I 
became and was a strong believer in and an advo- 
cate of State Rights, and secession, without fair 
comprehension of what was really meant by the 
terms. My youthful mind was inspired by the 
thought that I lived in the South, among a south- 
ern people in thought, feeling and sentiment, that 
their interests were my interests, their assailants 



6 THE STORY OF 

and aggressors were equally mine, their country 
my country, — a land on which fell the rays of a 
southern sun, and that the dews which moistened 
the graves of my ancestors fell from a southern 
sky ; and not only this, but the patriotic songs, and 
the thought of becoming a soldier, with uniform 
and bright buttons, marching to the sound of 
martial music, a journey to Richmond, all ani- 
mated and enthused me and had the greatest ten- 
dency to induce and influence me to become a 
soldier. Grand anticipations ! Fearful reality ! 

When thinking of this, I am reminded of the 
story of Bill Douthat of our Company, who, 
after trying the realities of war and soldier life 
for a part of one year, returned home, and being 
strictly inquired of as to what war was, what it 
meant, or how he liked it, answered, "Well, gen- 
tlemen, I have seen the elephant; don't want to 
see him any more." And after having tried it, 
I think I can truthfully say that Bill expressed 
fully our views on the subject. 

Leaving school about the last days of March 
or the first days of April, I returned to my 
uncle's house. 

Although Virginia had not yet seceded, there 
was an abundance of war talk, and some of the 
people were rapidly coming to the conclusion that 
war was inevitable, and that the only way the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 7 

controversy could or would be settled was by 
resort to arms, an appeal to the King of Battles, 
— a submission to the arbitrament of the sword. 

Volunteer military organizations already ex- 
isted in various parts of the state; perhaps there 
was scarcely a county or city in the Common- 
wealth that did not have at least one organized 
volunteer company. 

Many overzealous persons declared their pur- 
pose to unite their fortunes with the states which 
had already seceded, whatever the course of Vir- 
ginia might be, and many of these zealots were 
so much afraid that there would be no war, or 
none! in Virginia, that they hurried south; how- 
ever, the ardor of at least some of them became 
somewhat frigid as the war became flagrant, un- 
til it is believed it fell below the freezing point, 
and some of them going over to the enemy ; helped 
stir up the strife, then ran away, and let the 
other fellows do the fighting. 



Chapter II 



Giles County, its Formation and Early Settlers. 
Its Geographical Position, Topography and Pop- 
ulation in 1860. 

State of Political Parties. 

Election of Delegate to the Convention. 



GILES COUNTY, named for Hon. William 
B. Giles, once Governor of Virginia, was 
created in 1806 out of the territory of 
Montgomery, Tazewell, and Monroe counties; 
the county town or seat of justice, Pearisburg, 
being named in honor of Col. George Pearis, a 
soldier of the American Revolution, who donated 
to the county the land on which the town is lo- 
cated. Colonel Pearis was a descendent of a 
French Hugenot, and was born in the State of 
South Carolina, February 16, 1746. In a battle 
with the Tories at Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, 
North Carolina, on the 14th day of October, 
1 780, he was wounded in the shoulder, which dis- 
abled him for further military service, and on 
reaching Virginia sought shelter with some rela- 
tions on the New River, at a place since known 
as Pepper's Ferry. 

The settlement of what is now the territory 
of Giles County began at a period anterior to the 
American Revolution, perhaps as early as 1755, 
if not a few years before that date. Among the 
early settlers of Giles County were the Lybrooks, 
Snidows, Harmans, Halls, Napiers, McComas', 
Clays, Pearis', Peters,' Hales McKenseys, Chap- 
mans, Frenches, Johnstons, Shumates, Hatfields, 



12 THE STORY OF 

Adkins', Hares, Pecks, Hughes', Wilburns, Shan- 
nons, and Banes, who were of Scot-Irish, Ger- 
man, Hugenot and EngHsh blood, many of them 
suffering much from Indian incursions. 

The population of this county, in i860, was 
6816, of whom 6038 were free white persons. 
The county is situate in the midst of the great 
Appalachian chain or range of mountains, dis- 
tant from Richmond some three hundred miles. 
Its length, thirty, by a mean width of twenty 
miles. New River flows through it in a north- 
west direction, the chief tributaries of which, in 
Giles County, are the Sinking, Walker's, Wolf, 
Big Stony, and Little Stony creeks. Its principal 
mountains, Walker's, Sugar Run, Angel's Rest, 
Wolf Creek, East River, Peters' and Salt Pond, 
which are high, rugged, and precipitous. The 
streams are rapid, and the surface of the country, 
other than the river and creek bottoms, generally 
rough and broken, but the soil rich and fertile. 
The population in 1861 was made up of sturdy, 
liberty-loving, hardy mountaineers, engaged 
chiefly in agricultural pursuits, where brave men 
are bred, accustomed to the chase and the use of 
firearms, which fitted them for the hardships and 
privations of soldier life. 

Politically, in i860 and the early part of 1861, 
the county was fairly evenly divided between the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 13 

democratic and whig parties, with perhaps a slight 
preponderance in favor of the democrats, the 
great body of whom, with the State Rights whigs, 
being intensely southern in character, but op- 
posed to extreme measures, or hasty action. 

In January, 1861, the legislature ordered an 
election for delegates to a convention to consider 
the critical condition of the country, said election 
to be held on the 4th day of February, at which 
in Giles County Mr. Manilius Chapman was 
elected over Mr. Charles D. Peck by a small 
majority. The convention assembled in Richmond 
on the 13th of February, of which more hereafter. 



Chapter III 



What Will Not Be Attempted Herein. 
How the Southern People Viewed the Situation. 
Virginia as Peace Maker. 
The Peace Conference and Its Failure. 
Geographical, Territorial Position. 
Assembling of the Convention and Its Action. 
Mr. Lincoln's Attitude and Call for Troops. 
Adoption of the Ordinance of Secession. 
Preparations for Defense. 



IT IS not herein attempted to record the causes 
which led to the withdrawal of the Southern 
States from the Federal Compact of Union 
framed by the Deputies of twelve of the Thirteen 
Original States, in the City of Philadelphia on 
the 17th day of September, 1787, afterwards 
acceded to and ratified by the states acting by and 
through conventions of the sovereign people of 
the states entering into and forming the Compact. 
Neither will it be discussed whether Secession is 
a violation of the Constitution, nor whether it is 
or is not prohibited to the states and no power 
granted or delegated to the Federal agent to pre- 
vent it. It seems no longer a practical question, 
hence no good purpose could be subserved by a 
discussion thereof. Some of the arguments, how- 
ever, of the Southern people are reproduced to 
show how they viewed the question at the period 
of which I am writing, — especially what Virginia 
people said and thought on the subject. 

In his inaugural address, Mr. Lincoln had de- 
clared his purpose to repossess the forts which 
had been seized by troops of the seceded states, 
reading to the Virginia Commissioners on April 
13th a paper setting forth his views declaring his 
purpose to coerce the seceded States. By the 



18 THE STORY OF 

Southern people this declaration by Mr. Lincoln 
was construed as a purpose to wage immediate 
war of subjugation against the South; in fact, no 
other meaning could be given to what he said. 

Many of the Southern states did not want to 
leave the Union, abhored war, and especially was 
this true of Virginia. She therefore hesitated 
before taking the step which was to separate her 
from that Union she had contributed so much to 
create. Virginia, therefore, made overtures to the 
government at Washington for an amicable and 
peaceful solution of the questions agitating the 
country, which, if not adjusted, would soon 
plunge the nation into the dreadful war to which 
we were rapidly drifting. Virginia took the lead 
in the matter of pacification, by a resolution of 
her legislature passed early in the month of Jan- 
uary, 1 86 1, recommending each of the states to 
appoint commissioners to a convention, the object 
of which should be "to adjust the present un- 
happy controversies." This proposition met the 
approval of President Buchanan. Most of the 
states, save those which had then seceded, re- 
sponded by appointing delegates. In pursuance of 
this call, the convention met in Washington, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1 86 1, choosing John Tyler of Virginia, 
chairman of the convention. After some three 
weeks' deliberation, this *Teace Congress" sub- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 19 

mitted a number of propositions, amendments to 
the Constitution. These propositions, together 
with most, if not all overtures, came to naught, 
were rejected by the congress and the party then 
in control of affairs at Washington. 

On December 20th the State of South Caro- 
lina had seceded from the Union, affirming and 
claiming that she, with her sister Southern states, 
could no longer live on equal terms and in peace 
in that Union and under that Constitution which 
many of the Northern states did not hesitate to 
violate whenever it suited their interests; and 
further insisting that there had been a powerful 
party organized in the North, upon principles of 
ambition and fanaticism, whose purpose was to 
divert the Federal Government from the external, 
and turn its power upon the internal interests and 
domestic institutions of the Southern states ; that 
they had thus in the Northern states a party whose 
avowed object not only threatened the peace but 
the existence of nearly one-half of the states of 
the Republic; that this same party in the North 
proposed to inaugurate a president, at the head 
of the Army and Navy, with vast powers, not to 
preside over the common interests and destinies 
of all the states alike, but upon partisan issues of 
avowed hostility, with relentless war to be waged 



20 THE STORY OF 

upon the rights and peace of half the states of the 
Union. 

This is but a faint picture of what awaited the 
Southern states, as they saw it, upon the coming 
into power of a sectional party, with Mr. Lincoln 
as chief magistrate, whose inaugural address 
clearly foreshadowed war. 

After repeated demands made by South Caro- 
lina, and after several ineffectual attempts by 
negotiation for the surrender of Fort Sumter, 
and a Federal fleet had sailed and was then off 
the harbor of Charleston, for the reinforcing and 
provisioning of the garrison, it is claimed that 
treachery and duplicity of the Federal govern- 
ment had been used to deceive the state authori- 
ties of South Carolina as to the surrender of the 
fort. 

It was therefore decided to reduce the fort; 
hence, on the I2th day of April, 1861, the bom- 
bardment commenced, the news of which fired the 
Northern heart, notwithstanding the well known 
principle that it is not always he who strikes the 
first blow that is the aggressor, but he who by 
his conduct or act forces that blow to be given. 
However, the shot had been fired which aroused 
the whole country to the highest pitch of excite- 
ment, with seemingly no way to allay it. The war 
was on. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 21 

Let us return to the Virginia convention which 
assembled in Richmond February 13th. These 
were momentous days. This historic body, com- 
posed of the ablest and best men from the Com- 
monwealth of Virginia, carefully considered the 
grave issues involved, the fearful consequences of 
civil strife. Upon the best authority it is averred 
that two-thirds of the men composing this con- 
vention were opposed to secession, and preferred 
to remain in the Union. 

A committee on Federal Relations was ap- 
pointed, which, on the loth day of March, re- 
ported fourteen resolutions, as follows: protest- 
ing against all interference with slavery; declar- 
ing secession to be a right ; defining the grounds 
on which Virginia would feel herself to be justi- 
fied in exercising that right, namely: the failure 
to obtain guarantees; the adoption of a warlike 
policy by the government of the United States, or 
to reinforce, or recapture the Southern forts. 
These resolves clearly defined the attitude of Vir- 
ginia at this critical moment. After serious dis- 
cussion pro and con, all but the last of these re- 
solves had passed the convention, when the news 
was received that the bombardment of Fort Sum- 
ter had begun. 

Virginia was still for peace and the Union, 
endeavoring by every means within her power to 



22 THE STORY OF 

avert the awful calamity of civil war. Her ter- 
ritorial limits were extensive, reaching from the 
northeast point of North Carolina northwestward 
nearly five hundred miles to a point within about 
one hundred miles of Lake Erie, practically sep- 
arating the eastern from the western states of the 
Union; hence her geographical position entitled 
her to and gave her great power and influence 
toward a settlement of the impending trouble. It 
was then claimed, — which was no doubt true, — 
that the Federal Administration was anxious to 
see her shorn of her power, which in a measure 
was accomplished by her dismemberment, by the 
formation of West Virginia out of her territory, 
and this by the aid of the Federal power. 

Virginia's son was foremost in fanning the 
flames of revolution, leading to the overthrow 
of British tyranny and the establishment of Am- 
erican independence. Her son had written the 
Declaration of Independence. Her son had led 
the Continental armies during the Revolution, and 
her son was active in the framing and ratification 
of the Federal Constitution. Virginia had been 
among the first to suggest and to assist in creat- 
ing the compact of union. 

To the Confederated states and in the spirit of 
patriotism and confidence in the continuance of 
good will, she had given to the Union her north- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 23 

west territory, an empire within itself, out of 
which six or more states have been formed. She 
had furnished seven presidents to the Republic. 

It was on the 15th day of April that Mr. Lin- 
coln issued his call for seventy-five thousand 
troops. Virginia's quota, 2400, were to rendez- 
vous at points in Virgina, thus placing armed 
soldiers in her territory, though still in the Union, 
her convention a few days previous having re- 
fused to secede by a vote of 89 to 45. This act of 
Mr. Lincoln was construed by our people as an 
act of war, and without authority, that power be- 
ing vested in Congress alone. 

Thus it will be seen that all the efforts made 
by Virginia to preserve the Union and peace had 
been defeated, Mr. Lincoln having pronounced 
secession unlawful and void. Virginia was a 
Southern state, in sympathy with her sister states 
of the South, and could not be induced to make 
war on them, nor on the Northern states of the 
Union. The conduct of the Federal Administra- 
tion had not only forced her out of the Union, but 
to take sides in the impending crisis. It was not a 
Southern Confederacy that Virginia sought or 
her people fought for, but toi uphold and main- 
tain the integrity and sovereignty of the state, 
and this necessarily meant separate government. 
I am sure at no time did the people of Virginia 



24 THE STORY OF 

think of becoming the aggressors upon the rights 
of the other states of the Federal Union. 

The issue was, therefore, squarely presented. 
Virginia must decide on which side she would 
stand. "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve," 
was the alternative. There was no middle ground, 
no neutral position, no evading the issue. Against 
her persistent attachment to the Union, the 
strongest appeals and bitterest denunciations, Vir- 
ginia remained unmoved. 

When her voice and her pleadings were no 
longer heard, the news of the bombardment of 
Fort Sumter, and Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, 
reached the convention, the supreme moment had 
come. The die was cast. There could be no 
further hesitation. On April 17th the Ordinance 
of Secession, amid anguish and tears, was adopted 
by a vote of 81 to 51. 

The call for troops by the President brought an 
immediate change in the current of public opinion 
in Virginia from the mountains to the sea. 

The Ordinance of Secession was ratified by the 
people on the 23d day of May by a majority of 
96,750 out of a total vote of 161,018. 

Virginians having now made their decision to 
defend themselves and their state, hastened to 
arms with ardor and a determined spirit of re- 
sistance. 



Chapter IV 



Organization of Volunteer Forces. 

Giles Not Behind Her Sister Counties. 

A Company Organized at Pearisburg, with James 
H. French as Captain; Eustace Gibson, First Lieu- 
tenant; William A. Anderson, Second Lieutenant; 
and Joel Blackard, Second Junior Lieutenant ; Cap- 
tains James D. Johnston and R. F. Watts on the 
Committee to Purchase Uniforms, etc. 

The Ladies of the Town and Country. 

In Barracks and on Drill. 

Anecdote. 

Dixie. 

Our March to Wolf Creek. 

Presentation of Bible and Flag. 



ON LEARNING of the adaption of the Or- 
dinance of Secession by the convention, 
the country was ablaze with the wildest 
excitement, and preparations for war began in 
earnest. Volunteer organizations of troops were 
forming all over the state. Why and wherefore, 
may be asked. Not to attack the Federal Gov- 
ernment, to fight the Northern states, but only to 
defend Virginia in the event of invasion by a 
Northern army. There was at this time in the 
county, already organized and fairly drilled, the 
volunteer company of Capt. William Eggleston, 
of New River White Sulphur Springs. Peariis- 
burg and the region roundabout in the most part 
received the news of the secession of the state 
with apparent relief and gladness, and immed- 
iately James H. French, Esq., of Pearisburg, a 
lawyer and staunch, bold Southern man in educa- 
tion, sentiment and feeling, assisted by others, 
commenced the enlistment of a company of vol- 
unteer infantry to serve for the period of twelve 
months from the date of being mustered into ser- 
vice, believing that war, if it should come, would 
not last longer than one year. Enlisting men for 
war was something new ; people are always ready 
to try something new, and as our people were 



28 THE STORY OF 

possessed of a' martial spirit, this, together with 
the excitement and enthusiasm of the occasion, 
made it nd difficult matter to enroll a full com- 
pany in an incredibly short time. Names were 
readily obtained, among them my own. I had to 
go with the boys, — my neighbors and school- 
mates, little thinking, orf in the remotest degree 
anticipating, the terrible hardships and privations 
which would have to^ be endured in the four years 
which followed. The idea then prevalent among 
our people was that we were not to be absent a 
great while; that there would probably be no 
fighting; that Mr. Lincoln was not really in 
earnest about attempting to coerce the seceded 
states, and if he was, a few Southern men would 
suffice to put to rout the hordes- of Yankeedom. 
If, however, the Northern people were intent upon 
war, our people were ready to meet them, be- 
cause thoroughly aroused. 

Our people had by this time .arrived at the con- 
clusion that war was inevitable; no settlement on 
peaceable and honorable terms could be had. 
They had therefore left the Union, which seemed 
to them the only alternative. Consequently we 
felt obliged to appeal to the sword for the settle- 
ment of questions which statesmanship had failed 
to solve; yet always willing to make a child's 
bargain with the Northern people, — "You leave 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 29 

us alone and we will leave you alone." Extrava- 
gant utterances and speeches were made as to 
Southern prowess. It was even said that one 
Southern man could whip five Yankees ; that the 
old women of the country with corn-cutters could 
drive a host of Yankees away; but the people 
who made these assertions knew little of what 
they were saying, for ere the war had long pro- 
gressed we found we had our hands full, and it 
soon became evident that we might like to find 
someone to help us let go. 

The organization of the company which after- 
wards became Company D, 7th Virginia regi- 
ment, took place April 25, 1861. The only contest 
for office worth relating was for the captaincy, 
which was between James H. French and Andrew 
J. Grigsby, and resulted in the election of the 
former. The following is a complete roster of the 
company, with dates of enlistment, rank, etc., to 
be followed later by a tabulated statement of 
losses in battle, by disease, desertion, discharge, 
etc. : 

ROSTER OF COMPANY D, 7TH VIRGINIA 
INFANTRY. 

Date of enlistment. Name. Rank. ' 

1861 — April James H. French Captain 

1861 — April Eustace Gibson .. First Lieutenant 

1861 — April W. A. Anderson, Sec. Lieutenant 

1861 — April J. Blackard, Second Jr. Lieutenant 



30 



THE STORY OF 



Date 


of enlistment. 


186 


. — April 


186 


I — April 


186" 


I — April 


186 


I— April 


186 


I — April 


186- 


L — April 


1861 


I — April 


1861 


I — April 


186] 


I— April 


1861 


L — April 


186] 


L — August 


186] 


. — August 


186 


1 — August 


186] 


L — August 


186] 


L — August 


186] 


[ — April 


186] 


. — August 


1861 


L — April 


186] 


[ — August 


1861 


— August 


186] 


I — August 


186] 


I — April 


186: 


5 — March 


186] 


L — April 


186] 


[—April 


186^ 


5 — January 


186] 


I — April 


186] 


[ — August 


186] 


I — April 


186] 


[ — April 


186] 


[ — April 


186] 


[ — August 


186] 


[ — April 


1861 


I — April 


186] 


I — April 


186] 


[—April 


186] 


— April 


186] 


[—April 



Name. Rank. 

Allen C. Pack .... First Sergeaiit 
John W. Mullins, Second Sergeant 
Joseph C. Hughes, Third Sergeant 
Wm. D. Peters . . Fourth Sergeant 
Hamilton J. Hale, Fifth Sergeant 

Allen L. Fry First Corporal 

Elisha M. Stone, Second Corporal 
T. N. Mustain. . . .Third Corporal 
John W. Hight . . Fourth Corporal 

David C. Akers Private 

George W. Akers Private 

William R. Albert Private 

Daniel Bish Private 

Allen M. Bane Private 

Robert H. Bane Private 

Joseph E. Bane Private 

Jesse Barrett Private 

Alexander Bolton Private 

Travis Burton Private 

William H. Carr Private 

James M. Collins Private 

John R. Crawford Private 

William Crawford Private 

James B. Croy Private 

James Cole Private 

D. E. Dulaney Private 

M. J. Dulaney Private 

Tim P. Darr Private 

John S. Dudley Private 

William H. Douthat Private 

Thomas Davenport Private 

David Davis Private 

Elbert S. Eaton Private 

Elisha D. East Private 

John W. East Private 

Joseph Eggleston Private 

James H. Eggleston Private 

Francis H. Farley Private 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 



31 



Date of enlistment. Name. Rank. 

1861 — April William C. Fortner Private 

1861 — April James H. Fortner Private 

1861 — April Jacob Tyler Frazier Private 

1861 — April William Frazier Private 

1861 — August Creed D. Frazier Private 

1861 — April William A. French Private 

1861— April John S. W. French Private 

1861 — August Andrew J. French Private 

1861 — April James H. Gardner Private 

1861 — August Francis M. Gordon Private 

1861 — April Andrew J. Grigsby Private 

1861 — April Charles A. Hale Private 

1861 — April John A. Hale Private 

1861 — April John D. Hare Private 

1861 — April Isaac Hare Private 

1861 — April James B. Henderson Private 

1861 — August John Henderson Private 

1861-Mar. 1862 Baldwin L. Hoge Private 

1861 -April 1861 James Hughes Private 

1861 — April James J. Hurt Private 

1861 — April George W. Hurt Private 

1861 — April John F. Jones Private 

1861 — April Manelius S. Johnston Private 

1861 — August George Johnston Private 

1861 — April David E. Johnston Private 

1861 — April George Knoll Private 

1861— April Charles N. J. Lee Private 

1861 — April Joseph Lewy Private 

1861 — April Henry Lewy Private 

1861 — April William H. Layton Private 

1861 — April James Lindsey Private 

1861— April Patrick H. Lefler Private 

1861 — August Anderson Meadows Private 

1861 — August Ballard P. Meadows Private 

1861 — April John Meadows Private 

1861 — April Newton J. Morris Private 

1862 — March Christian Minnich Private 

1861 — April George A. Minnich Private 



32 



THE STORY OF 



Dat€ of enlistment. 


1861 


— April 


1861 


—April 


1861 


— April 


1861 


—April 


1861 


— April 


1861 


— April 


1861 


— August 


1861 


— August 


1862 


— March 


1861 


—April 


1861- 


—August 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—August 


1861- 


—August 


1863- 


—January 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—August 


1861- 


—August 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—April 


1861- 


—August 



Name. Rank. 

John H. Minnich Private 

Absalom D. Manning Private 

Raleigh Merricks Private 

Tapley P. Mays Private 

John Q. Martin Private 

John H. Martin Private 

Wiley W. Muncey Private 

George C. Mullins Private 

James J. Nye Private 

John Palmer Private 

Charles W. Peck Private 

John W. Sarver Private 

Demarcus L. Sarver Private 

Josephus Southern Private 

Samuel B. Shannon Private 

Joseph C. Shannon Private 

William H. H. Snidow ... Private 

John P. Sublett Private 

William T. Sublett Private 

Lewis R. Skeens Private 

Alexander Skeens Private 

Joseph Skeens Private 

Amos L. Sumner Private 

Thomas J. Stafford Private 

William H. Stafford Private 

Ralph M. Stafford Private 

Andrew J. Thompson Private 

Adam Thompson Private 

Alonzo Thompson Private 

Thomas S. L. Taylor Private 

Lee E. Vass Private 

Washington R. C. Vass . . Private 

Elijah R. Walker Private 

Lewis N. Wiley Private 

Gordon L. Wilburn Private 

Ballard P. Watts Private 

Hugh J. Wilburn Private 

William L Wilburn Private 




JAMES HARVEY FRENCH, 



Ik-S^i^ 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 33 

Date of enlistment. Name. Rank. 

1861— April Edward Z. Yager Private 

1861— April Thomas J. Young Private 

1861— August Isaac Young Private 

1861— April Jesse B. Young Private 

Whole number of enlisted officers and men, 122. 

Upon the company being organized, a com- 
mittee was appointed by the county court to pur- 
chase uniforms and blankets. This committee, 
which was composed, as now recollected, of Cap- 
tains James D. Johnston and R. F. Watts, acted 
promptly, and the materials for the uniforms were 
soon on hand. The ladies of the town and sur- 
rounding country went to work in earnest and 
with energy to make our outfits. Herculean as 
was the task, they accomplished it in an incredi- 
bly short time, and we soon donned our bright 
new clothes, with nice brass buttons, and began to 
think ourselves soldiers in fact. We occupied as 
barracks the large frame building on the south- 
east side of the town, the same lately owned and 
occupied by Capt. James D. Johnston as a resi- 
dence. While here we usually had daily squad 
and company drill, conducted by the accomplished 
Captain W. W. McComas, then a practicing phy- 
sician, who had been a soldier in the Mexican 
War, and who, after the departure of our com- 
pany, raised and organized a company of which 
he was made captain. He fell at his post in the 



3 



34 THE STORY OF 

forefront of the battle of South Mills, North Car- 
olina, April 19, 1862. He, like many others, 
died too soon for his country's good, and his 
friends were greatly grieved and distressed over 
his untimely death. 

During the period which elapsed between the 
organization and departure for Lynchburg, the 
designated place of rendezvous, and while in bar- 
racks, "the boys," as we were wont to call our- 
selves, played many pranks upon each other, O'ne 
of which is worth relating. A sham or mock elec- 
tion was held for the election of a fifth Lieuten- 
ant, the choice falling on a very credulous mem- 
ber of the company, who, after the announce- 
ment of his election, became quite .anxious to 
know what the duties of his office required of 
him,^which we, also ignorant of military duties, 
were unable to answer. With his consent, it was 
agreed to refer the solution of the matter to Lieu- 
tenant Anderson, who was always full of wit 
and humor, ever ready with answer, and always 
enjoyed a good joke. Upon the arrival of the 
Lieutenant, the question was promptly referred 
to him, and without pausing he promptly an- 
swered, ''His duties are to carry water and catch 
fleas out of the soldiers' beds." This seemed 
satisfactory to the newly elected Lieutenant, and 
doubtless, as was afterwards demonstrated — for 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 35 

he always obeyed orders and did his duty — he 
would have proceeded to perform his prescribed 
duties as explained by Lieutenant Anderson, had 
not some one told him that it was all a joke and 
a sell. 

Early in May we were invited to a dinner pre- 
pared for us by the good people living- at and near 
the mouth of Wolf Creek, whither we marched, 
partook of a bountiful repast, and returned to our 
barracks. During our stay in barracks at Pearis- 
burg, as before stated, we were frequently drilled 
by Captain McComas, who attempted to teach us 
to keep the step and to cheer, or huzzah. The 
latter was no easy task, for in fact we never did 
learn uniformity in the "huzzah," but gradually 
drifted into that wild ''rebel yell," as it was called, 
which so often sent a thrill of horror into the 
Yankee ranks, and the memory of which brings 
a cold chill over those fellows yet! "Dixie," 
"Bonnie Blue Flag" and other patriotic songs, 
sung by the choir of the company, greatly en- 
thused us, but "Dixie" had more music in it than 
all others put together, and it has ever been so, 
even to this good day. 

As all people of all lands are more or less fond 
of "flag worship," it was altogether fit and proper 
that the company should have a suitable em- 
blem or flag, and the women, always first in every 



36 THE STORY OF 

good work, determined to present to the com- 
pany a flag and a Bible. Both were soon ready, 
and it was determined to have a formal presenta- 
tion of each. Miss Mary Woodram, now the 
widow of Dr. James O'Keiffe, presented the flag, 
and the pupils of Pearisburg Academy the Bible, 
which was placed) in the custody of Jacob Tyler 
Frazier, who had been selected as chaplain, the 
flag being delivered to Joseph Edward Bane, the 
company's ensign. J. Smoot Dennis, a boy of 
only seven years of age, a pupil of the school, 
presented the Bible, in the following little speech : 

"The teachers and pupils of Pearisburg Acad- 
em)^ beg leave to present this copy of the Holy 
Scriptures to our magnificent ^Mountain Boom- 
ers' as an expression of our confidence in their 
Christian faith and patriotism." 

To which the chaplain responded : 

"On behalf of the 'Mountain Boomers' I ac- 
cept this book, knowing it to be the Word of 
God. I shall read it with care and diligence, and 
on all suitable occasions will endeavor to explain 
and enforce its claims. Should any of our band 
fall sick in camp, or be wounded on the field, then 
from the great treasure of its precious promises 
I will bring balm for the suffering, and point them 
to Him whose mission to earth was to bind up 
the broken-hearted and save that which was lost. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 37 

If the Pale Horse and his Rider should overtake 
any of us in a distant land, we will rest in hope 
of the glorious appearing of Him who is the 
Resurrection and the Life, and with whom we 
shall be gathered into that land which no' foe in- 
vades, and where friends are parted no more." 



Chapter V 



The Election for the Ratification of the Ordinance 
of Secession Was Held on the Fourth Thursday 
of May, the 23d. On That Day Members of the 
House of Delegates, and Perhaps Other Officers 
Were to be Elected. 

Our Departure. 

Lynchburg and to Manassas Junction. 



THE total vote (1033) in Giles County was 
cast in favor of the ratification of the 
Ordinance of Secession. Captain William 
Eggleston was elected to the House of Delegates 
over Dr. John W. Easley by a majority of 234 
votes. Our departure for the rendezvous was 
delayed for the purpose of giving such members 
of the company as were entitled to vote the op- 
portunity to do so. To avoid delay and to furnish 
means to carry us to the railway station twenty- 
one miles away, preparations were made in ad- 
vance to transport us in wagons. 

The day arrived at last. It was a lovely May 
morning; the sun shone in all his splendor, the 
birds sang, all nature seemed to smile, and there 
was notMng to indicate that this should be the 
last farewell for many noble Giles County boys 
to home, friends, and loved ones. We seemed 
to be going on a holiday journey, to return in a 
few days. But alas ! when the time of departure 
arrived, what a change of scene! The town was 
being filled with people,— the fathers, mothers, 
brothers, sisters, wives, relatives, friends and lov- 
ers of the men and boys who were starting on the 
errand of war. Here was a fond and loving 
mother clinging to her baby boy, weeping, sob- 



42 THE STORY OF 

bd-ng, praying the Father of all Mercies to pro- 
tect and preserve the life of her darling child, 
amidst the fury and storm of battle. There stood 
the patriotic, gray haired father, the tears trickl- 
ing down his cheeks, giving to his beloved son 
words of comfort, begging that he act the man, 
be brave, do his duty, refrain from bad habits, 
and to shun all appearance of evil. A loving sis- 
ter might be seen with her arms around a broth- 
er's neck, reminding him of her love and attach- 
ment, and her grief and sorrow at parting from 
one with whom she had been associated from 
childhood's days, upon whom she had leaned for 
protection, and upon whom her fondest hopes for 
the future rested, and whose face she was, in all 
probability, gazing upon for the last time. Ears 
were not deaf to the mutual promises and plighted 
faith of lovers, of what they hoped one day should 
be realized. Nor were eyes dim to the parting 
glances and silent tears, for scarcely could be found 
an eye that was not bathed in tears on this occa- 
sion. It was weeping, shaking of hands, **good- 
bye," and ''God bless you;" and thus the scene 
continued until the long train of wagons drove us 
away. 

On reaching the residence of that hospitable 
gentleman, Thomas Shannon, ten miles away, we 
found in his orchard near the spring a long table 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 43 

on which was spread a splendid dinner. After 
partaking thereof, and resting a short time, we 
resumed our journey towards Dublin, arriving 
there at sunset. Assembling near the station, we 
were addressed by Colonel Pogue and Mr. Frank 
Wysor, whose speeches were well timed and 
patriotic, which, together with the good supper 
furnished us, had the effect to dispel in some 
degree the gloom and sadness of the morning. At 
eleven o'clock P. M. we boarded the train for 
Lynchburg, arriving there at sunrise next morn- 
ing. With us were Robinson and Hurt, drummer 
and fifer, who kept us well supplied with music 
during that long night's ride. Crowded closely 
in the coaches, unaccustomed to riding on the cars, 
and sleeping none, we found ourselves on reach- 
ing Lynchburg pretty badly used up. Falling into 
line at the station, we marched up Bridge street 
to Main, then to a back street above, going into 
quarters in a tobacco warehouse, where we re- 
mained but a day and night; then to the fair 
grounds, or Camp Davis, as it was called. There 
we were joined by Captain Eggleston's company, 
the Mercer company under Captain Richardson, 
with several companies from the counties of 
Franklin, Henry, Patrick, Floyd, Montgomery, 
and Carroll, which later formed the 24th Virginia 
regiment of infantry, commanded by Colonel, af- 



44 THE STORY OF 

terwards Lieu tenant-General Jubal A. Early, 
Peter Hairston, Lieut.-Col., and J. P. Hammett 
as Major. Colonel Early was not in camp with 
us at Lynchburg and did not join us until we 
reached; Manassas. The camp was in charge of 
Lieut.-Col. Hairston, a tall, slender, sandy-haired, 
blue-eyed man, good natured, but, as we then 
thought, evidently better qualified to manage his 
farm down in Henry County than a green mili- 
tary force composed of Virginia gentlemen, un- 
used as they were to restrictions or restraints upon 
their personal liberty, and not to be broken into 
harness, so to speak, in a few days. 

Our quarters were rude plank sheds with in- 
clined rough floors; our bedding not of feathers, 
but of a little straw and blankets. As no one in 
the company knew anything of the art of cooking, 
what little was done as a matter of course was 
badly done ; the cooking vessels consisting of a tin 
cup, camp kettle, and frying pan. Bread was 
generally furnished from the bakers' shops of the 
city, while meat, rice, beans, peas, etc., had to be 
dumped into a camp kettle and boiled together — 
so that it requires no strong stretch of the imagin- 
ation on the part of the reader to realize that we 
had a real mess. However, "necessity, the mother 
of invention," compelled us to learn' how to cook, 
and we were right apt scholars. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 45 

In a few days after taking up quarters at Camp 
Davis, there were issued and delivered to us 
Springfield muskets, bayonets, scabbards, cart- 
ridge boxes, but no ammunition. With these 
muskets we performed quarter guard, the chief 
objects of which seemed to be to keep the men 
out of the city, and to give us some knowledge 
as to the handling of arms. In accomplishing the 
first named purpose it was vain; the guards had 
muskets, but no powder and ball, therefore if any- 
one were desirous of passing the lines into the 
city, he had only to wait until the sentry turned 
on his beat to walk away, then glide quickly 
across the line; but when the sentry did catch 
a fellow, he usually made him stand at the point 
of his bayonet, marking time, until the corporal 
of the guard could answer the call and conduct 
the prisoner to the guardhouse. Consequently a 
different remedy was resorted to by the officers, 
viz. : The frequent call of the roll, by which the 
absentees were readily ascertained. This had the 
effect of lessening the practice of going into the 
city without permission. 

We remained in Lynchburg eight days, break- 
ing camp at Camp Davis Friday the 31st day of 
May, 1861, and departing that evening in freight 
cars over the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, 
for Manassas Junction, a distance of one hundred 



46 THE STORY OF 

miles or more. After a long, tiresome, all-night 
ride, we reached Manassas at sunrise on the morn- 
ing of June I St, the morning on which occurred, 
at Fairfax Court House, a skirmish between the 
Federal and Confederate outposts, in which Capt. 
John Q. Marr, of Fauquier, was killed and Major 
Ewell wounded. The Confederate post at Ma- 
nassas was named "Camp Pickens" in honor of 
Governor Pickens of South Carolina. 



Chapter VI 



Stay at the Junction. 

Organization of Twenty-fourth Regiment as 
Afterwards Completed. 

March to Camp Davis Ford. 
First Night on Picket. 
Alarm. 

March to the Town of Occoquan and Back A^ain 

A War of Words. 

Serious Fight Imminent. 

Leaving the Twenty-fourth Regiment. 

Camp Tick Grove, and a Personal Difference 

A More Perfect Union. 

Camp Wigfall. 

Officers of the Seventh Virginia Regiment. 

Blondeau's Shot. 

How We Cooked, Ate and Slept. 

Shannon's Bob. 

Rumors Afloat of Pending Battle. 

Three Days' Rations Cooked. 



THE day, or second day, after arriving at 
Manassas, began the organization of the 
24th Virginia Regiment of Infantry, with 
companies from the counties of Carroll, Floyd, 
Montgomery, Henry, Franklin, Patrick, Mercer 
and Giles, including our company, the regiment 
numbering about one thousand men. In our 
company were J. Tyler Frazier, the company 
Chaplain, Thomas S. Taylor, James B. Hender- 
son, the Eggleston boys, and perhaps others not 
now recalled, whose custom and habit was not to 
retire at night until they had held devotional ex- 
ercises, thanked God for His past mercies and 
blessings, and asked His care and protection dur- 
ing the night. This they had not failed to do since 
leaving home. Taps were sounded at nine o'clock, 
when all lights must be extinguished. One night 
at Manassas taps sounded while the boys were at 
their devotions. Colonel Hairston, seeing the 
light in their tent still burning, had the boys 
marched to the guard house; but they were soon 
released. 

After two or three days at the Junction, we 
marched seven or eight miles to Davis' Ford on 
the Occoquan river, a stream formed by the junc- 
tion of Cedar Run, Broad Run, and Bull Run, 



50 THE STORY OF 

where we went into camp, pitching tents in a 
field on the right of the road, behind a skirt of 
pines which Uned the northeast bank of the 
stream. The Occoquan here is small, with high 
banks. The field where we camped was barren, 
not even covered with grass. Our beds were 
mother earth, our rations were cooked in frying 
pans and camp-kettles, and we had to wash our 
own clothes, often without soap. 

Company drill was our daily avocation, and 
when well and closely followed was quite irksome, 
especially in warm, sultry weather. We also per- 
formed quarter guard and did picket duty, the 
latter by detachments from the various companies, 
under the command of a commissioned officer, 
arranged by alternate service. The picket post 
was nearly a mile in advance of the camp, the 
small stream flowing between. 

No one but a soldier can form any proper con- 
ception of the feelings and imaginations of a green 
boy performing his first night's picket duty 
on the outpost, and in order to give some meager 
idea of such a situation, the writer will here re- 
late his personal experience during his first night 
on the outpost. 

It must be kept in mind that the private soldier 
is supposed to be a mere machine, which, if not in 
working order, may somewhere along the line pro- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 51 

duce friction. This machine is supposed to know 
nothing- but his duty and obey orders, — the in- 
structions of his superiors. If placed on outpost 
duty and told that there is nothing in front of him 
but the enemy, to keep a sharp lookout, and to 
warn of the approach of danger, he is not ex- 
pected to ask questions. My time came to go on 
duty at ten o'clock at night. The night was cloudy 
and dark, but pleasant. I was placed on the road 
by which it was supposed the enemy might come, 
and given the countersign. From ten o'clock to 
twelve, midnight, was the time I had to remain, 
unless the enemy captured or ran me away. What 
a long two hours ! The silence was oppressive. I 
stood peering through the darkness, away a half 
a mile or more from any human being, so far as 
I knew, imagining that every noise or bush 
shaken by the passing breeze was a veritable foe. 
The long two hours had nearly passed away, 
when — ^hush! in the distance, on the hard beaten 
road, not two hundred yards away, came the sound 
of approaching hoof -beats. Yankees, of course! 
Who else could they be? I had no information 
that any of our troops were on the road in front 
of us. What should I do? To fire before chal- 
lenging and alarm the camp would be highly im- 
proper ; to run away without challenging or firing 
would be an act of cowardice. So, nerving my- 



52 THE STORY OF 

self as well as I could under the circumstances, 
remembering the instructions! and countersign, I 
awaited the coming of the party with all the 
courage I then seemed to possess. Supposing 
them to have approached to within some fifty 
yards, — though it was most likely a hundred 
yards — I challenged the party, and was an^ 
swered, "Friends, with the countersign." Then the 
rejoinder, "One of you dismount, come forward 
and give the countersign," which was quickly 
done, and the party passed on ; and) you, gentle 
reader, may be assured there was one on his first 
night's picket duty who breathed with more ease. 
The spell was broken, — thereafter I had less trou- 
ble when on the outpost. 

A few nights after this occurrence, the soldier 
on duty at this same post discharged his musket, 
which aroused the camp nearly a mile away. Such 
excitement was scarcely ever witnessed. The long 
roll sounded, officers cried out, "Fall in! Fall in! 
The enemy is coming!" Had this been true, there 
is little doubt that in the confusion and darkness 
of the night there would have been a stampede. 

On the loth of June we struck tents, taking up 
the line of march for the village of Occoquan, 
in the direction of the Potomac River. Our 
march was only about twelve miles, — hot, dry and 
dusty, through a country scarce of water. Many 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 53 

a scuffle at wells that we passed took place among 
the men famishing for water. Our march by the 
route step was rapid, much too rapid for troops 
unused to marching and carrying guns, accouter- 
ments, knapsacks, blankets and canteens, which, 
together, weighed from fifty to seventy- five 
pounds, and which, with our heavy, close fitting 
coats, made the march burdensome and cruel in 
the extreme ; this in part because the commandant 
refused to halt for rest or to allow the men to get 
water. About sunset camp was reached, all hands 
broken down and exhausted. Next day we 
marched back, our boys in disgust, some of them 
quoting the King of France, who with fifty thou- 
sand men marched up the hill and then marched 
down again. 

On the tramp to Occoquan occurred a difficulty 
between Lieutenant Hairston and our Lieutenant 
Gibson, the two high bloods squaring themselves 
in the road for battle, but the prompt intervention 
of Major J. P. Hammett of the regiment pre- 
vented the trouble, which threatened to involve 
not only the two officers but their respective com- 
panies, and which difficulty was the cause of the 
transfer of our company from the 24th to the 7th 
Virginia regiment. 

We rested for a few days in camp in a grove 
of pines not far from Manassas, to which we gave 



54 THE STORY OF 

the name of "Camp Tick Grove," from the fact 
of our being nearly eaten up by the seed-ticks that 
infest that region. Nothing of interest transpired 
while in this camp further than that the writer 
had a small personal difference with a great burly 
fellow, which but for the timely interference of a 
comrade might have resulted in somebody getting 
threshed. It was a trifling affair, soon over and 
forgotten. Our transfer to the 7th Virginia regi- 
ment being duly effected, we left the ''camp of 
terror" and at Camp Wigfall formed a more per- 
fect union with our new regiment, commanded 
by Colonel James L. Kemper of Madison County ; 
of which regiment Lewis B. Williams of Orange 
was lieutenant-colonel, and W. T. Patton, of Cul- 
peper, major. 

This regiment was formed of ten companies, 
two from Madison, two from Rappahannock, one 
from Aibemalrle, one /from Greene, one from 
Orange, one from Washington, D. C, one from 
Culpeper, and one from Giles — designated by 
letters as follows : 

Co. A, Capt. John Welch, Madison County. 

Co. B, Capt. Thos. B. Massie, Rappahannock 
County. 

Co. C, Capt. John C. Porter, Culpeper County. 
Co. D, Capt. James H. French, Giles County. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 55 

Co. E, Capt. John Taylor, Culpeper and Orange 
Counties. 

Co. F, Capt. F. M. McMullen, Greene County. 

*Co. G, Capt. Austin Walden, Rappahannock 
County. 

Co. H, Capt. William! Cleary, District of Co- 
lumbia. 

Co. I, Capt. Isaac Winn, Albemarle County. 

Co. K, Capt. William Lovell, Madison County. 

Dr. C. Bruce Morton, Surgeon. 

Rev. Mr. Bocock, Chaplain. 

Rev. Mr. McCarthy, Chaplain. 

Rev. Mr. J. Tyler Frazier, Acting Chaplain. 

Captain Crisler, Quartermaster. 

Captain Graves, Quartermaster. 

Captain J. W. Green, Commissary. 

The adjutants who served in the 7th Virginia 
were: 

Charles C. Flowerree, 1861 to April, 1862. 

E. B. Starke, April, 1862, to June 30, 1862. 

Hugh M. Patton, , 1862, to August 30, 

1862. 

John H. Parr, September, 1862, to April, 1865. 

Sergeant-Majors : 

George S. Tansill, to June 30, 1862. 

Park, to August 30, 1862. 



♦This company joined the regiment on the morning of 
the day of first battle of Manassas. 



56 THE STORY OF 

David E. Johnston, from November, 1862, to 
April, 1865.* 

Camp Wigfall was situate on a beautiful upland 
grass plot, a short distance southeast of Ma- 
nassas, and not far from Bull Run. Here we 
spent the time rather pleasantly, engaging in daily 
company and battalion drill and doing picket duty 
on two old country roads leading in the direction 
of Bull Run. 

Blondeau, the Frenchman, belonging to Com- 
pany H, caused quite a stir and excitement one 
night by firing his gun at an imaginary foe, which 
turned out to be a cow browsing in the brush near 
him. The long roll was sounded, the camp 
aroused, the regiment put into line, but before 
this was accomplished the camp was in an up- 
roar, one had lost his boots, another his trousers, 
another his gun, etc. On the companies reaching 
their positions in regimental line, ten rounds of 
ammunition were ordered given each man, and 
non-commissioned officers directed to make the 
distribution. It was often told of our Corporal 
Stone that while dealing out ammunition, on the 
occasion referred to, one of the men remarked 



*I recall the names of some of the officers who came in 
later as well as men, to wit : Captains W. O. Fry, Thomas 
Fry, F. McMullen; J. W. Almerid, Thos. Harris, Phil S. 
Ashby, Thos. G. Popham, Jas. G. Tansill ; Lieutenants 
Porter, Jas. Brown; Sergeants Wm. Aylor, Apperson, 
Parrott, Billy Fray, H. C. Burrows and Frank Burrows. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 57 

to him that he was giving him more than ten caps, 
to which the Corporal replied in quick, sharp tone, 
"Oh, it's no time to count caps now !" Of course 
no one knowing! the Corporal attributed his re- 
mark to a want of courage, for no cooler, truer, 
braver man belonged to the company. Such 
signification as it had was simply that men un- 
used to "war's alarms," aroused from slumber at 
the dead of night, would, despite themselves, be- 
come excited and impatient, and especially so 
when they momentarily expected the enemy to 
pounce upon them; but no enemy came. We, 
however, rested on our arms the remainder of the 
night ; and though no foe appeared, some of the 
men were credited with having seen some in the 
distance — on the hills, in the open fields, but on 
the coming of light they were found to be merely 
harmless bushes. On such occasions the imagina- 
tion is naturally fertile. 

The camp becoming quiet, we settled down to 
old habits. Rations were abundant, more thrown 
away than we consumed. Inaction was not good 
for us, and numbers of men became sick and were 
sent to hospital. Our soldiers, like other people, 
loved to sleep. If their rest was broken or dis- 
turbed at night, by picket, quarter guard, duty, 
or otherwise, they were sure to take a nap the next 
day, if the flies, of which there were swarms, 



58 THE STORY OF 

would allow them to snooze. If they failed to get 
their nap during the day they were pretty sure 
to have their nocturnal slumbers disturbed by 
gnats and mosquitos, especially during the warm 
nights. 

Two members of our company, Samuel B. and 
Joseph C. Shannon, sons of Thomas Shannon, had 
with them a negro servant, Bob, as their cook. 
Bob was noted for his propensity for laughing, 
and when in a good glee he could be heard half 
a mile. He was very patriotic, and declared his 
purpose to go into battle with his young masters; 
that he could and would fight as well as we, and 
shoot as many Yankees. In this Bob was in ear- 
nest, as he believed ; but ere long his courage was 
to be put to a practical test, for rumors were al- 
ready afloat in the camp that the enemy was ad- 
vancing and a battle impending. 

The private soldier knows little of what takes 
place, other than that which comes under his im- 
mediate observation. His general was supposed 
to keep his own counsels, not allowing his left 
hand to know what he intended to do with his 
right. Later on, the private soldier of the Civil 
War became often as wise about what was on 
hand as his superior. 

An order came to cook three days' rations, 
pack haversacks, and be ready to move at a mc^- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 59 

merit's notice. From this, we knew something 
was up. Just what, we could not tell; however, 
we learned that the enemy was advancing, and a 
battle to be fought. All was now activity and 
preparation in the camp, and the men in high 
spirits and ready for the fray. 



Chapter VII 



Breaking Camp at Wigfall. 
The March to the Battlefield. 
General Beauregard and His Appearance and 
Advice. 

First Cannon Shot. 

Battle of Bull Run. 

The Advance. 

The Charge. 

The Wounded. 

Isaac Hare and John Q. Martin. 

Retreat of the Enemy. 

Severe Artillery Duel. 

The Dutchman and His Chunk of Fat Bacon. 

Casualties. 



BREAKING camp at Wigfall Wednesday 
noon, July 17, the 7th regiment marched 
in the direction of McLean's ford on Bull 
Run, halting on the high land nearly a mile from 
the Run, and going into bivouac, or rather lying 
down inj an uncultivated field, where we rested 
quietly during the night. Moving next morning 
a short distance, we halted on an eminence, over- 
looking Mitchell's, Blackburn's and McLean's 
fords, and the country beyond, whence about noon 
we observed clouds of dust to the north. Very 
soon after this came the sound of brisk skirmish 
firing, and the roar of cannon from the direction 
of Mitchell's ford. 

The 24th Virginia, 7th Louisiana, and 7th Vir- 
ginia regiments constituted a brigade commanded 
by Col. J. A. Early. Longstreet's brigade, hold- 
ing Mitchell's ford, against which the enemy di- 
rected his principal attack, consisted of the ist, 
nth and 17th Virginia regiments. 

The 7th Virginia moved towards the firing 
along a narrow country road and over a field 
which had been planted in corn, in which field 
near the road, in charge of a guard, was a Fed- 
eral prisoner. We eyed himi closely. Bob, the 



64 THE STORY OF 

colored cook, especially observing him with in- 
terest. 

At McLean's gate, as we passed, stood General 
Beauregard, the commander of the Confederate 
forces, — slim, strong shouldered, five and a half 
feet high, of swarthy complexion, and lightish 
mustache. He appeared calm, and collected, say- 
ing as we passed, in a quiet, low tone : "Keep 
cool, men, and fire low; shoot them in the legs." 

I am reminded to state here that in the earlier 
battles of the war I have seen men in their excite- 
ment fire their muskets into the air at an angle of 
probably forty-five degrees, and others so lower- 
ing their guns that the ball would strike the 
ground but a few feet in front of them. This, 
however, was soon corrected, and the men took 
good aim. 

Pushing forward from this point some two hun- 
dred yards, we halted on the left of the road un^ 
der cover of a belt of pines, which sheltered us 
from the view of the enemy. Soon came the boom 
of a cannon, the ball whizzing and buzzing over 
our heads. All eyes turned in the direction of the 
noise of the ball, which struck the house near 
where General Beauregard was standing. A sec- 
ond shot came, the ball cutting away an apple 
tree near the house referred to, causing a team of 
horses to take fright and run away, as well as the 




Lieut. Eustace Gibson 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 65 

colored man, Bob, who, musket in hand, had 
halted at the house, and the last seen of him that 
day he was making rapid speed for Manassas. 
Bob never expressed any regret for the run he 
had made, satisfied with his experience. The 
rattle of musketry in our front made strange 
music, affecting some of the men very peculiarly, 
especially John W. East, of our company, who, 
on account of a severe pain in the region of his 
stomach, clasped both hands across that locality, 
becoming almost doubled, which wholly disabled 
him for the fight. 

The order for the advance came, and forward 
we went along the narrow country road, through 
the pines, with a wild yell, and at double quick, 
accompanied by a section of the Washington 
(Louisiana) artillery, commanded by Lieutenant 
Squires. Meeting on the way some wounded men 
of the ist Virginia regiment, pale and bleeding, 
had any other than a pleasant and happy effect 
upon our nervous systems, tending somewhat to 
dampen the ardor. 

Emerging into an open field two hundred yards 
from Bull Run, by a movement by the right 
flank, we were in line advancing towards the 
stream, the banks of which were covered with 
timber, the opposite bank sloping from the stream, 
high and precipitous. Within one hundred yards 



66 THE STORY OF 

of the stream, from the opposite bank the enemy 
poured into our ranks, or rather at us, a volley 
of musketry, which, thanks to his bad marksman- 
ship, went high, doing little or no damage, but 
causing us, by common impulse, as is usual with 
soldiers in their first battle, to fall flat on the 
ground, and down we went. On the side next the 
enemy, in front of Isaac Hare, was John Q. Mar- 
tin, who sprang over Ike, leaving him next the 
enemy. Ike, with a curse and threatening ges- 
ture, compelled Martin to resume his former posi- 
tion. The men of the regiment were immediately 
upon their feet. As they rose, Lieutenant Squires, 
whose section of artillery had unlimbered immed- 
iately in our rear, gave the command, "Fire!" 
which command, being mistaken by our men for 
that of our own officer, caused us to let fly a ter- 
rific volley at the enemy in the woods in our front, 
and this was followed by a rush with fixed bay- 
onets for the stream, behind which the enemy 
was posted, forcing him to retreat in confusion, 
leaving his dead and wounded, knapsacks, haver- 
sacks, hats and part of his small arms. Reaching 
the bank of the stream, the regiment lay down, 
and there followed for more than an hour a 
fierce artillery duel between the Federal batteries 
and the Confederate, the latter under Lieutenant 
Squires, which resulted in the withdrawal of the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 67 

former. During this bombardment, shell, shot 
and shrapnel fell around and among us, wound- 
ing a few men of the regiment, but all were quiet, 
and continued to hug the ground. This was about 
five o'clock in the afternoon. 

George Knoll, "Dutchman," as we usually 
called him, being in his characteristic mood, but 
hungry, took from his haversack a chunk of fat 
bacon, stuffing himself while the artillery fire 
was in progress. 

Quiet now reigning, we began to look after 
the wounded and prepare for spending the night 
in battle line in front of the enemy, who had re- 
tired from our immediate front, but still hovered 
near by. 

The troops engaged on the Confederate side, 
save the artillery mentioned, were principally 
the 1st, nth and 17th Virginia of Long- 
street's brigade, with the 7th Virginia of Early's. 
The losses in Longstreet's regiments, as re- 
ported, were: Killed and mortally wounded, 
15, and sHghtly wounded, 53. Of these cas- 
ualties 40 were of the ist Virginia. Seven 
were wounded in the 7th Virginia of Early's 
brigade, one killed and five wounded of the ar- 
tillery. In Company D of the 7th regiment Isaac 
Hare and James H. Gardner were slightly 
wounded by spent balls. H. C. Burrows of E 
Company got a musket ball through his hand; a 



68 THE STORY OF 

man of B Company had his hand or fingers man- 
gled by a piece of shell. 

The Federal force that attacked us was Richard- 
son's brigade, of Tyler's division, consisting of 
the ist Massachusetts, 2d and 3d Michigan, and 
1 2th New York regiments; Ayers' battery, and 
Brackett's cavalry. The Federal loss, as reported, 
was 19 killed, 38 wounded, and 26 missing. 



Chapter VIII 



Night's Experie'nce on Our First Battlefield. 

The Dead and Cries of the Wounded. 

Occurrences on the Field. 

Sunday, July 21. 

Shelled by the Enemy. 

March to the Field by the Sound of Battle. 

The Battle. 

Casualties. 

The Pursuit. 

To the Outposts. 

Incidents. 

Winter at Centerville. 



RETURNING to the battle line, we found 
ourselves groping around in the dark. 
Knowing the enemy to be close by, we 
quietly went to work throwing up temporary 
breastworks of logs. Tbe cries of the Federal 
wounded, and the groans of the dying, the occa- 
sional volleys of musketry fired by some of our 
troops at imaginary foes, with the hooting of 
owls, made the night hideous and weird, deeply 
impressing the nature of a lot of young Virginia 
boys reared in Christian homes. The regiment 
behaved, however, with great coolness during the 
entire night, encouraged by the example, presence 
and good conduct of our brave Lieutenant-Colonel 
Williams, then in command. Colonel Kemper be- 
ing absent on public service. 

With the coming of daylight, the Confederate 
scouts crossed the Run, brought in the Federal 
wounded, and quite a number of muskets, knap- 
sacks, blankets, canteens, cartridge boxes, and 
hats, thrown away or dropped by the enemy in 
his flight. By an examination of the dead in 
front of our regiment, it was ascertained that we 
had fought the ist Massachusetts regiment. 

This action of the i8th was preliminary to the 
real battle which came on Sunday the 21st, but on 



72 THE STORY OF 

different ground, seven or eight miles northwest 
of the engagement of the i8th as just described. 
During Friday and Saturday all was quiet, the 
Confederate line of battle extending from Union 
Mills to Stone Bridge, several miles in length; 
the enemy in the meantime keeping up a show- 
ing of force, threatening our front at McLean's, 
Blackburn's and Mitchell's fords, while his main 
column was moving or preparing to move north- 
west to strike the Confederate battle line in flank 
and reverse on its extreme left. 

Our regiment remained Friday night and until 
late Saturday evening at the same place at which 
it had halted on Thursday ; being then relieved by 
other troops, retired to a pine thicket close by, 
where we received a bountiful supply of rations, 
some in boxes from home, — a thing that makes 
glad the heart of a homesick boy. 

On Saturday evening we were joined by Col- 
onel Kemper, the commander of the regiment. 
At sunrise on Sunday morning, July 21, the 
enemy's batteries near Blackburn's opened fire, on 
account of which we marched to the cover of the 
pines, between McLean's and Blackburn's fords, 
remaining but a short time. Our regiment, to- 
gether with the 7th Louisiana, crossed the Run at 
McLean's ford for the purpose of attacking the 
enemy's batteries, which were annoying us, oc- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 73 

casionally throwing- shots into our ranks, without, 
however, doing any serious damage. It will be 
recalled by those present that while lying down 
behind the pines a shot struck near the center of 
our company, scattering dust and dirt over us. 

While getting into battle line, preparatory to 
assault upon the batteries, an order came to re- 
trace our steps to the cover of the pines. This 
was near 12 M. By this time we distinctly heard 
the roar of heavy gums far to our left, and the 
great Battle of First Manassas was on. 

Near one o'clock P. M., we moved by a rapid 
gait with the head of the column directed north- 
west, guided by the sound of the battle. The dis- 
tance from our starting point, McLean's, by the 
route we marched to the extreme Confederate 
left, was fully eight miles, which distance was 
covered in two hours, notwithstanding the scorch- 
ing rays of the sun, stopping not for rest or water, 
for want o^f which we suffered. The three regi- 
ments of Colonel Early's brigade, 7th Louisiana, 
7th Virginia, and 13th Mississippi, (the latter 
substituted for 24th Virginia) passed to the ex- 
treme Confederate left, reaching there at near 
3 :20 P. M., finding themselves face to face with 
the foe at the Chinn house and in open ground. 

Approaching the scene of action, a wild cheer 
was heard, following which a man on horseback 



74 THE STORY OF 

at full speed, hatless, face flushed, covered with 
perspiration and dust, brandishing his sword over 
his head, and shouting, ''Glory! Glory! Glory!'' 
rode rapidly by. In answer to inquiry as to what 
was the matter, he said, "We have captured 
Rickett's battery and the day is ours." This was 
the first glad news we had received, and all were 
thrilled wath new courage. Cheering wildly, the 
men pressed forward at double quick. Passing in 
rear and beyond a wood into which Smith's Con- 
federate brigade had just entered, we encountered 
the fire of the enemy, mostly United States Regu- 
lars. The 7th Virginia here formed quickly, 
the 7th Louisiana and 13th Mississippi forming 
on the left, thus completing the battle line with 
three regiments front. Nor had we arrived .a 
moment too soon, for the enemy was pressing our 
left flank sorely. There they were, in full view 
on our front, and to the left of us on the higher 
ground. Here Colonel Early* ordered us not to 
fire, saying that they were our friends : a griev- 
ous blunder upon his part, the result of misin- 
formation not easily explained. Captain Massie, 
whose company was armed with rifles, called out, 
"Colonel, they may be your friends, but they are 
none of ours. Fire, men !" and fire they did. 



*See Colonel Early's Report, Rebellion Records, Series 1, 
Vol. II, pp. 555-6. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 75 

As we formed, the enemy at long range kept 
up an irregular fire, inflicting upon our men con- 
siderable loss in killed and wounded, and all this 
while we were too far away from them to pay 
them back in their own coin. As we pushed for- 
ward towards the enemy, they retreated pell- 
mell, we chasing them over the hill towards Bull 
Run, considerably in advance of the general Con- 
federate battle line forming across a peninsula 
created by a sharp curve on Bull Run between 
Stone Bridge and the mouth of Catharpin creek. 

Up to this time we had little realization of the 
utter defeat of the Federal army, the evidence of 
which we saw a few days after, when, following 
his line of retreat, we found guns, caissons, mus- 
kets, ambulances, spades, picks and knapsacks 
abandoned in his flight. The only reason seem- 
ingly the enemy had for running as he did was 
because he could not fly. 

The casualties in the 7th Virginia for the limited 
time it was under fire were severe — nine killed 
and thirty-eight wounded, our Company D losing 
Joseph E. Bane, a brave and gallant soldier, killed ; 
Robert H. Bane, A. L. Fry, Manelius S. John- 
ston, Charles N. J. Lee, Henry Lewy, John P. 
Sublett, and Samuel B. Shannon wounded. The 
loss of the Confederates in the battle was 387 
killed, 1582 wounded, and 13 captured. 



76 THE STORY OF 

The Federal loss was 2896 men, of which 460 
were killed, 11 24 wounded, and 13 12 captured 
or missing, besides 26 pieces of artillery, 34 cais- 
sons and sets of harness, 10 battery wagons and 
forges, 24 artillery horses, several thousand stand 
of small arms, many wagons and ambulances, 
large quantities of army supplies of all kinds. 

The Confederate army remained on the field 
after the battle for two days, amidst a terrific 
rainstorm ; then marching beyond Centerville, six 
miles to the east, went into camp in a body of 
woods, where we remained for some weeks; 
thence moved a short distance beyond Fairfax 
Court House. Here we laid out our camp and 
pitched tents, which was barely done when the 
long roll sounded and we were quickly on the 
march in the direction of Alexandria and Wash- 
ington, whither we should have been pushing the 
day after the battle; for if vigorous pursuit had 
been made, Washington would have fallen into 
our hands. 

The march referred to took us to Munson's 
hill; learning on the way that a brisk skirmish 
between the enemy and some Confederate troops 
had occurred during the day, which had only 
ended with the approach of darkness. Halting 
near Munson's hill, an order was given to load 
muskets, and again we moved forward. John W. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 71 

East, from sheer cowardice — constitutional — he 
could not avoid it — fell at full length in the road. 
John turned up in camp a few days after, in fair 
health and clothed in his right mind. The regi- 
ment passed on a few hundred yards to the base 
of the hill, going into camp. The following morn- 
ing, Company K, together with Company D, un- 
der Captain Lovell, on the right and front of the 
hill had quite a sharp skirmish with the enemy. 
Next morning, Saturday, August 30, Major Pat- 
ton, with Companies B and D, advanced to Bai- 
ley's Corners, three-quarters of a mile or so, 
where they engaged in quite a fusillade with a 
portion of the Second Michigan regiment, in 
which a lieutenant of B Company was wounded, 
and one man of the Michigan regiment was mor- 
tally wounded. 

In a few days after the skirmish just described, 
we returned to our camp, where we found peace 
and plenty. Lieutenant W. A. Anderson, who at 
Camp Wigfall had been detailed to go back home 
and secure additional men to fill up the loss in 
the ranks, caused by sickness, had returned with 
the following men, to wit: George W. Akers, 
William R. Albert, David Davis, Creed D. 
Frazier, A. J. French, Francis M. Gordon, John 
Henderson, George Johnston, P. H. Lefler, An- 
derson Meadows, Ballard P. Meadows, Winton 



78 THE STORY OF 

W. Muncey, George C. Mullins, Charles W. Peck, 
Thomas J. Stafford, William H. Stafford, Adam 
Thompson, Alonzo Thompson, William L Wil- 
burn and Isaac Young. 

With the exception of company and regimental 
drill, some picket duty, and quarter guard, we did 
little but cook, eat, write letters and sleep. The 
weather was hot, the water bad; this, with an 
overabundance of rations, and insufficient exer- 
cise — in fact, a life of almost entire inactivity — 
were the fruitful sources of disease, and many of 
the men were sick, a number of them finding their 
way to the hospital ; among them, Allen C. Pack, 
Ed Z. Yager, William Sublett, John Henderson, 
William Frazier, H. J. Hale, and doubtless 
others, not now recalled. Frazier, Henderson, 
Sublett and Hale died, as did Alonzo Thompson, 
whose deaths and loss were much regretted. 
Strange, yet true, that many of our strongest men 
fell victims to disease, while those apparently 
much weaker stood the service well. 

While on picket duty at Fall's Church, a Cap- 
tain Farley, with smooth face, fair skin and blue 
eyes, claiming to be — and was — a South Caro- 
linian, and an independent scout, approached our 
outpost and proposed that some of the men go 
with him into the timber in front of the picket 
and run the Yankees out. Our boys regarded 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 79 

this as preposterous, and on went Farley. He 
had not been in the woods long till firing began, 
and he soon returned with blood streaming from 
his ear : he had a close call. 

During the months of August and September 
we served on frequent picket duty at Munson's, 
Upton's and Mason's hills, and at Annandale. 
Our lines were fairly wxll connected. The enemy, 
not being able to discover by their scouts what 
we were doing — what movements we were mak- 
ing, or what force we had, resorted to the use 
of balloons. On one occasion our people fired 
at a balloon with cannon shot, and down came the 
balloon. A short while after this, the balloon 
was up again, when our boys concluded to at 
least give the man in the basket — Professor Lowe 
— a scare; so, rigging up the rear gears of a 
wagon with a stovepipe, ran the improvised artil- 
lery to the hilltop, in full view of the} aeronaut, 
pretending to load. The Professor descended 
quickly, only to appear again at a safer distance. 

On one of our tramps to picket we went to 
Annandale and remained a day or so with Cap- 
tain Harrison's Goochland Dragoons, which did 
outpost duty during the day and we at night. 
We lived largely, while on picket, on green corn, 
potatoes, and sometimes other vegetables, a re- 



80 THE STORY OF 

lief from fresh beef, bacon and hardtack, the 
regular diet of camp life. 

As the enemy perfected his lines, he became 
bolder, pressing closer. This led to frequent col- 
lisions between the troops on outpost duty. These 
conflicts were by general orders discouraged, and 
called petty warfare. Nor were these without 
their casualties — if not caused by the enemy, 
sometimes by accident, or mistake^ — careless 
handHng of firearms in passing through the 
brush, carrying of arms at a trail and catching 
the hammers against some obstacle. One such 
accident is recalled by which a man by the name 
of Link, of Captain Eggleston's Giles company, 
lost his life. 

During the sojourn at Fairfax, a detachment 
under Lieutenant Allen, of the 28th Virginia, 
was sent to the station on the railway to guard 
some baggage and stores deposited there. Of 
this detachment was John R. Crawford, of our 
company, who for true physical courage, bravery 
and self-possession, had scarce an equal; indeed, 
it was often said of him that he knew no fear — 
did not know what it meant — never dreamed nor 
imagined what danger was; that he felt as much 
at ease in the storm of battle as when resting 
quietly in the camp. The reader doubtless has 
heard of the ''Louisiana Tigers," who in the first 




Capt. Robert H. Bane 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 81 

battle of Manassas, when closing with the enemy, 
threw down their muskets and rushed upon the 
enemy with their bowie-knives. They were a 
dangerous, blood-thirsty set — at least so reputed. 
It was two of these same "Tigers" who found 
Crawford on guard over the baggage and stores 
above referred to, which they proposed to appro- 
priate. Crawford warned them to stand off and 
go away. They paid no heed to the warnings, but 
persisted in their purpose. Crawford then re- 
versed his musket and downed the man nearest 
to him, who fell trembling and bleeding at his 
feet; whereupon his companion quickly advanced 
to his rescue, but Crawford's belligerent attitude 
caused him to beat a hasty retreat. 

The Winter of 1 861-1862 was spent at Center- 
ville in camp, our quarters being constructed of 
log huts with wooden chimneys. The Winter 
was cold and dreary, and we had some difficulty 
in keeping a supply of rations, which had to be 
transported from the junction six miles away by 
wagons over a road deep in mud and mire. 

Owing to the difficulty of distinguishing our 
Virginia state flag from many flags of other 
states carried by the enemy in the battle of 
Manassas, whereby we had been threatened with 
serious consequences, such as occurred with our 
own brigade on that field : it became necessary 



82 THE STORY OF 

to have a flag uniform in design for all the Con- 
federate army. Such a flag was designed by 
Colonel Miles, of South Carolina, and presented 
by General Beauregard to the army. This flag 
was about twenty-two inches square, the field 
red, with blue stripes from corner to corner at 
right angles, with thirteen white stars; and was 
ever after our battle flag. 

Again we were on picket, Crawford on out- 
post, with instructions to keep a sharp lookout, as 
the enemy was near, but not to shoot without call- 
ing ''halt" the usual three times, and if no halt 
made, to shoot. Shortly after Crawford took 
post, his cries of ''Halt! Halt! Halt!" were 
heard, and bang! went his gun. The corporal 
ran to see what was the matter : he found Craw- 
ford standing quietly at his post as if nothing had 
happened — a stray fat hog had wandered to the 
post and had not halted at Crawford's command, 
consequently was dead. Crawford's only ex- 
planation was, "I obeyed orders." The hog was 
roasted, with many compliments for Crawford, 
and all had a feast. 



Chapter IX 



Our Daily Duties. 

In Camp. 

Among the Last Rencounters. 

Lieutenant Gibson, Corporal Stone and Others 
Hold a Council of War and Determine to Advance 
and Drive McClellan from Arlington Heights. 

March to the Outposts. 

Graybacks. 

Religious Exercises. 

Incidents of Camp. 

Depletion of the Army. 

Re-enlistments and Furloughs. 

Retreat from Manassas Behind the Rappahan- 
nock. 

Albert and Snidow. 

Gordonsville. 



OUR duties in camp during the Winter were 
not onerous, save quarter guard in inclem- 
ent weather, especially rain and extreme 
cold, for it will be remembered that we had no 
shelter on quarter guard post — that is, none while 
on post and on the beat, as a guard must always 
be in the open, both as to weather and to the 
foe. The guards were divided into three re- 
liefs: the first went on at 9 o'clock A. M., the 
second at 11, the third at i. This order was 
observed during the twenty-four hours. When 
off post we were required to remain at the guard 
house, unless by special permission of the officer 
of the guard. The quarter guard were supposed 
to be the special custodians of the quiet and safety 
of the camp. The mode of placing guard on post 
was as follows: A sergeant or corporal com- 
menced at the top of the roll, the number of men 
being equal to the number of posts. Beginning 
with post number one, we marched around the 
entire camp, relieving each sentinel with a new 
man. When this was to be performed at night, 
the countersign (a pass word adopted at army 
headquarters and transmitted to the various sub- 
ordinates) was delivered in a whisper to the 
guards by the officers thereof, so that as the 



86 THE STORY OF 

sergeant with the relief guard approached the 
sentry, he was required to halt and give the 
countersign. 

Colonel Kemper, still a member of the General 
Assembly of Virginia, was absent for the greater 
part of the Winter. Lieutenant-Colonel L. B. 
Williams, a rigid disciplinarian, who was left in 
command, endeavored by watchfulness, to have 
everything done in strict military style ; frequently 
visiting the guard house, having the officer turn 
out the guard, call the roll, and woe to the man 
absent or out of line when his name was called. 
Punishment was sure tO' follow in the way of 
double duty or otherwise. On one occasion Lieu- 
tenant Anderson and W. H. Layton, having both 
imbibed too freely, took a jaunt to the guard 
house, where they had no business, and here 
Colonel Williams, on one of his visits, found 
them. Layton was placed in the guard house and 
the lieutenant in arrest. 

During this stay in Winter quarters, Privates 
Mays, Farley, Thompson and John W. East had 
an altercation, the last ( save two) which occurred 
in the company. It was not an uncommon thing 
for the soldiers to discuss the conduct of the war, 
the remissness and failure of commanders, the 
probabilities and improbabilities of success, peace, 
the plan of battles, and the war policy, offensive 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 87 

and defensive. A discussion of this kind is well 
remembered as having occurred between Lieuten- 
ant Gibson, then officer of the day; Corporal 
Stone, Sergeant Peters, Sarver, Hare and others, 
in the quarters of my mess, while at Centerville. 
It was at night; the boys had gotten in a little 
stimulant. Lieutenant Gibson dropped in, and 
with the others, imbibing freely, began in a very 
serious way the discussion of the surest and quick- 
est way or mode of ending the war, and restor- 
ing peace to our distracted country. After much 
discussion pro and con, which lasted practically 
throughout the night, Corporal Stone submitted 
a plan to which all readily assented, and which 
was as follows: To "attack immediately Gen- 
eral McClellan's army, drive it from Arlington 
Heights, capture the Federal capital, then pro- 
pose an armistice and congress of the states." 
Stone was for starting that night, for prompt and 
aggressive action, but Peters favored postpone- 
ment until morning, which was by this time at 
hand. Just then the long roll sounded to arms, 
and a march toward Washington, sure enough, 
began, but with only our regiment. And, oh! 
such headaches as Stone, Peters, Gibson and the 
others in the war council had, and how formid- 
able and impregnable now appeared Arlington, 
which a few hours before was to them but a mole 



88 THE STORY OF 

hill. Our mission was to relieve a Lx)uisiana regi- 
ment then on picket near Fairfax, where we re- 
mained for a week, occupying the quarters just 
vacated by the Louisianians. Here it was that 
we formed our first acquaintance with the ''gray- 
backs, " which filled our clothing and blankets, 
much to our discomfort. Oh ! the digging under 
the shirt collar, under the arm pits, and every 
point where the cruel pest found the flesh of the 
poor soldier. It was a difficult matter to rid 
ourselves of them — ^they seemed over anxious 
to remain with us. Nothing short of boiling 
them hard in water got rid of them. The next 
Summer on the peninsula, in the swamps of the 
Chickahominy, and around Richmond, we had 
them in abundance, the boys often saying that 
they had stamped upon their backs the letters, 
"I. F. W.," which, interpreted, meant "In for 
the war/* 

During our stay in Winter quarters at Center- 
ville, there was little, if any, preaching or religious 
exercises, as there was no place to have public 
services, and the weather was too severe to hold 
services in the open. The mess of J. Tyler 
Frazier, in which were Thomas S. Taylor, James 
B. Henderson, F. H. Farley, John F. Jones, Wil- 
liam C. Fortner, Joseph Eggleston, James Eggles- 
ton, and perhaps others, never neglected their 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 89 

religious duties, and in quarters invariably read 
a chapter of the Bible, sang a hymn, and prayed 
before retiring at night. These men, by their 
upright conduct, observance of their religious 
duties, their Christian character and conversation, 
had great influence over their comrades, and 
especially upon the conduct and morals of the 
company. 

The expiration of the term of service, twelve 
months, of most of the men was rapidly approach- 
ing; the ranks having been much depleted by 
sickness, death and other causes. No adequate 
provision had yet been made for the retention 
of those already in the field, or for the filling of 
the ranks. It was evident that if the war was 
to be prolonged, and the contest maintained, we 
must have an army. With one year's service many 
were satisfied; the fever had worn, off, enthus- 
iasm was on the wane. The government, to 
induce re-enlistment, was offering fifty dollars 
bounty and thirty-day furlough. Quite a num- 
ber availed themselves of an opportunity to go 
home by accepting the bounty and re-enlisting. 
Some eighteen of Company D took advantage 
of the offer, among them E. M. Stone, John D. 
Hare, J. W, Mullins, A. L. Fry, J. W. Hight, 
John W. East, R. H. Bane, J. B. Young, Tom 
Young, W. H. Lay ton, Tom Davenport, John 



90 THE STORY OF 

Palmer, and the writer. Tom Young, Daven- 
port, Layton and Palmer never returned — 
deserted. 

On our return to the army we were accom- 
panied by Christian Minnich, who enlisted in 
the company, "having two sons therein. The 
question of re-enlistment was soon settled by an 
act of Congress, which placed every man in the 
Confederate states between the ages of i8 and 
35 in the army for three years, or until the close 
of the war, retaining all that were under i8 and 
over 45 for ninety days, continuing the organiza- 
tions then existing, with the right to elect regi- 
mental and company officers. 

March i, or thereabouts, in 1862, the enemy 
began to push his lines closer up, and to make 
more frequent reconnaissances, and to extend his 
lines toward Aquia Creek on the Potomac, on 
the right flank of the Confederate army, caus- 
ing our commander uneasiness, no doubt, as to 
the tenableness of our position, and hence on or 
about the lothl of the month orders were issued 
to cook rations, and be prepared to march. The 
movement began three days later, with the head 
of the column directed toward Warrenton and 
the Rappahannock River, which was crossed the 
second or third day. At Centerville we left burn- 
ing immense quantities of provisions and army 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 91 

supplies, of which later we stood in dire need, 
the inadequacy of transportation being the excuse 
for the destruction. 

At a point either in Culpeper or Rappahannock, 
near where we one night encamped, was a dis- 
tillery, of which some of our men took possession, 
procuring Old Mao Riley Albert to make a run 
of applejack, with which they tanked up, then 
filled their canteens, with no way to transport 
the residue. Harry Snidow and others from a 
nearby store procured jars, with which they 
trudged along until the jars were emptied. No 
one was drunk, but the boys were happy and jolly. 

Gordonsville, in Orange County, near the junc- 
tion of what was then the Central and Orange 
and Alexandria railroad, was reached, where we 
went into camp. 



Chapter X 



The Stay Near Gordonsville. 
The March to Richmond and Journey to York- 
town. 

In the Trenches. 

Skirmishing and Night Alarms. 

Reorganization. 

The Retreat from Yorktown. 

The Old Lady's Prayer. 

Battle of Williamsburg. 

The Killed and Wounded. 

Forces and Numbers Engaged and Losses. 

Retreat up the Peninsula. 

Battle of Seven Pines. 

Casualties. 



OUR stay in the vicinity of Gordonsville was 
of short duration — only for a few days — 
for on or about April i we set out for 
Richmond, distant about seventy-five miles. The 
route taken lay through the counties of Louisa, 
Hanover and Henrico, a low, flat, swampy ter- 
ritory, and in March and April knee deep in mud. 
The people along this march were unaccustomed 
to seeing large bodies of armed men marching. 
The negroes, especially, gazed upon us with seem- 
ing astonishment. How long we were making 
this march to the capital city is not now recol- 
lected, but as we carried heavy burdens at that 
day, it is probable we did not reach Richmond 
before the 8th or 9th of April. 

On the loth of the month last mentioned, the 
7th regiment left Richmond aboard a steamer 
on the /J^[Ines River, disembarking at King's 
Landing, ten miles from Yorktown, inland, 
whither we marched the evening of our debarka- 
tion. We took position in and near the trenches 
for the purpose of preventing the Federal army 
from marching up the peninsula. Now and then 
a brisk skirmish would occur on some part of the 
lines, scarcely a night passing without picket fir- 
ing and alarms; one of which occurred during 



96 THE STORY OF 

a heavy rainstorm, in which the men stood to 
their guns throughout the night and were thor- 
oughly drenched by the rain. 

The time for reorganization of the army had 
arrived, and this was accomplished quietly on 
Saturday, April 26, 1862, in the face of the 
enemy. Before giving in detail the result of the 
reorganization, will state that a very decided 
change had taken place among the men as to 
their estimates of the character and ability of 
their officers, field and company. Many were 
moved by their dislikes and prejudices, engen- 
dered by contact in their first year's service, 
against officers who had endeavored to enforce 
obedience and strict military discipline, prompted 
by no other motive than the good of the service; 
yet these acts, done in accordance with military 
law, and inspired by patriotism, were often mis- 
construed by men born freemen, wholly unaccus- 
tomed to having restraints placed upon their per- 
sonal liberty; such acts, the exercise of such 
authority, being regarded by our volunteer citi- 
zen soldiery as tyrannical. Consequently those 
who' had been foremost in rushing to the coun- 
try's rescue in the early days of her peril, bravely 
leading their men to the forefront of the battle, 
were displaced, to the detriment of the service; 
but patriotic and good men are oftentimes only 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 97 

human. The organization was, however, effected 
apparently without injury to the public service. 

Captain James H. French, of my company, 
was taken sick on the march from the Rappahan- 
nock, and was left in Richmond ; consequently he 
was not present at the reorganization, and per- 
haps was not a candidate for re-election. Had 
he been present and a candidate, it is more than 
probable he would have been again chosen captain 
without opposition, as no one could have had 
any personal grievance against him. He had 
proven himself a man of unflinching courage, and 
as much in this respect could be said of the other 
company officers. Save one. Lieutenant Joel 
Blackard, all were displaced. Blackard, in the 
reorganization, was elected captain; Sergeant R. 
H. Bane, first lieutenant; Orderly Sergeant John 
W. Mullins, second lieutenant; Corporal E. M. 
Stone, third lieutenant. The non-commissioned 
officers elected were : A. L. Fry, first sergeant ; 
W. H. H. Snidow, second sergeant; William D. 
Peters, third sergeant ; Joseph C. Shannon, fourth 
sergeant; this scribe, fifth sergeant; A. J. Thomp- 
son, first corporal; Daniel Bish, second corporal; 
George C. Mullins, third corporal, and J. B. 
Young, fourth corporal. 

Comment as to the choice of the men will not 
here be made, nor the character of the new of- 



98 THE STORY OF 

ficers, as ample opportunity will be afforded in 
these pages to judge their conduct. It suffices 
to say now that the company had no cause for 
regret. 

Of the regimental officers, Colonel James L. 
Kemper was chosen to succeed himself; Major 
W. T. Patton was elected lieutenant-colonel; 
Adjutant C. C. Flowerree, major; Lieutenant 
Starke was appointed adjutant ; George S. Tansill, 
sergeant-major. Dr. C. B. Morton was regi- 
mental surgeon, with Dr. Oliver assistant, and 
upon the promotion of Dr. Morton to brigade 
surgeon, Dr. Oliver became regimental surgeon, 
with Dr. Worthing^on as assistant. 

As recollected, Company H, from the District 
of Columbia, having served its one year, for 
which it had enlisted, disbanded shortly after re- 
organization. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis B. Williams, than 
whom no braver man wore the gray, was elected 
colonel of the ist Virginia regiment. Prior to 
the battles of Bull Run and Manassas, the 7th 
regiment had been brigaded with the 24th Vir- 
ginia and 7th Louisiana, under Colonel J. A. 
Early. After these battles, we were commanded 
by General E}\\^ell. Subsequently, the ist, 7th, 
nth and 17th Virginia regiments formed Gen- 
eral Longstreet's brigade. On reaching York- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 99 

town, Brigadier-General A. P. Hill became our 
brigade commander, General Longstreet having 
been made a major-general, to whose division our 
brigade was attached. 

At this juncture we were still at Yorktown, 
with the enemy bold and threatening in our front. 
It was evident, therefore, that a collision was 
imminent, either where we were or near by. The 
order came to move on Saturday evening, May 3. 
We were soon on the road, in the mud, flounder- 
ing and pushing toward Williamsburg, about 
twelve miles distant, reaching there early next 
morning, after an all night march. The com- 
mand halted in front of the grounds of the East- 
ern Hospital for the Insane. The enemy, evi- 
dently determined we should not get away with- 
out trouble, followed closely, skirmishing briskly 
with the rear guard, which was continued 
throughout the afternoon. Then came the monot- 
onous standing in line of battle from early dawn 
till near midday — a thing that always tries the 
patience of a soldier. The booming of artillery, 
and the rattling of small arms could be dis- 
tinctly heard. As we passed over the street lead- 
ing to William and Mary College, an elderly lady 
appeared on her porch, with clasped hands and 
eyes lifted heavenward, uttering for us, in simple, 



100 THE STORY OF 

pathetic tones, a prayer to God for the protection 
of our lives in the coming conflict. 

Beyond the College the column filed to the 
right into an open field, piled baggage, and then 
in battle line moved forward into the timber, 
receiving as we entered therein a shower of balls 
at close range, wounding a number of men. This 
onslaught was answered by a charge from us, 
which broke up the lines of the enemy, consist- 
ing in part of New York regiments, and drove 
him for more than a half mile through the woods 
into a body of fallen timber, in which was en- 
countered a fresh line of battle. Some doubt at 
first existed as to who these people were. This 
was settled by the unfurling of their flag. At 
close quarters, the fight was desperate for more 
than two hours, in which our ammunition was 
expended, when General A. P. Hill ordered a 
charge with fixed bayonets, upon which the 
enemy (New Jersey men) were driven from the 
field; for a hand-tcnhand charge is something 
fearful to contemplate. Being relieved by other 
troops. Hill's brigade retired to the line from 
which it had moved in the charge, from whence 
we withdrew during the night, continuing the 
retreat; for it will be remembered that the task 
in hand for us was the holding in check of the 
enemy — a force vastly superior to our own. In 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 101 

this day's work I fired 36 charges, by which 
my shoulder was pounded so that it was for a 
time completely disabled. This battle was fought 
for a safe retreat for our trains and for the army, 
and accomplished this purpose. We had beaten 
the enemy in our center, and on the right wing, 
while a portion, two regiments, of General Early's 
brigade had been repulsed by General Hancock's 
Federal brigade. 

The forces engaged were, as stated by General 
Longstreet: Federals, 12,000; Confederates, 
9,000. The casualties: Federal, 2,288; Confed- 
erate, 1,565. This engagement was called the 
Battle of Williamsburg, and will be remembered 
by the survivors whose eyes may fall upon these 
lines. 

In Hill's brigade the loss was 326, of which 
67 were killed, 245 wounded, 14 missing. The 
7th Virginia lost 13 killed, 64 wounded, aggre- 
gate jy. In Company D, of the 7th Virginia, 
the loss was one killed, 14 wounded, as follows: 
Killed, William H. Stafford; wounded. Lieuten- 
ant E. M. Stone, and the following men of the 
line : Allen M. Bane, Charles W. Peck, Andrew 
J. Thompson, John A. Hale, John W. East, Isaac 
Hare, George Knoll, Anderson Meadows, De- 
marcus Sarver, William I. Wilburn, Edward Z. 
Yager, John Meadows, and the writer — who 



102 THE STORY OF 

knows what it is to have a hot buckshot in his 
hand. Baldwin L. Hoge had the belt of his cart- 
ridge box severed and cut from the belt; several 
of the men had holes shot through their clothing. 
Sergeant Tapley P. Mays, of Company D, the 
ensign of the regiment, who bore the flag aloft 
throughout the battle, had the staff severed three 
times and the flag pierced by twenty-three balls, 
Mays escaping unscathed. For his gallant con- 
duct on this field, he received the thanks of the 
commandant of the regiment, and his conduct 
was made the subject matter of a complimentary 
letter to him from the Governor of the state, 
promising that he should receive a fine sword for 
his gallant conduct. 

The mud was deep, the movement slow, and 
when morning dawned we were only a few miles 
from the battlefield, halting occasionally in battle 
line in order to hold the enemy in check until our 
long train of wagons and artillery could get away. 
It must not be supposed that because we were 
wearied, covered with mud and hungry, that we 
were dispirited and gloomy. Such mental con- 
ditions could not then well exist among such a 
jolly set of fellows, for we had in each company 
one or more who would have their amusement, 
in a joke, a laugh, or a song, especially Bolton 
and George Knoll (the Dutchman), who were 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 103 

clownish and full of fun. In passing along the 
roads and through the towns and villages, if a 
citizen with a high silk hat appeared, these clowns 
would call out: ''Mister, come out of that hat; 
I know you are in there, for I see your feet!" 
Another would likely call out : ''Mister, my bees 
are swarming; lend me your hat to hive them in." 
They sometimes ran across a man with high top 
boots. Then it was : "Come out of them boots ! 
I know you are in them, for I see your head 
above." Occasionally they were paid back in 
their own coin. An old preacher, white-haired, 
with long white flowing beard, one day rode into 
camp, when one of these wags called out : "Boys, 
here is old Father Abraham," whereupon the old 
preacher said: "Young men, you are mistaken. 
I am Saul, the son of Kish, searching for his 
father's asses, and I have found them." The 
preacher had won, and nobody enjoyed the joke 
better than the fellows who had been beaten at 
their own game. 

The Chickahominy was crossed by our troops 
May 9, when we went into camp at Clark's farm, 
and later near Howard's Grove, on higher and 
dryer ground, with better water. Here inactivity 
and hot weather brought on much sickness. It 
was from this camp that A. L. Sumner of Com- 
pany D took "French furlough" — went without 



104 THE STORY OF 

leave, to see his family, was arrested, brought 
back, courtmartialed, and sentenced for a term to 
Castle Thunder, a Confederate prison in Rich- 
mond for Confederate delinquents. On his re- 
turn he made up for his delinquency. A. L. Fry, 
orderly-sergeant, was summoned as a witness 
against Sumner at his trial, and was thereby 
absent at the battle of Frazier's farm. 

For several days preceding the 30th day of 
May, 1862, the weather had been very sultry, and 
during the night of that day there broke over the 
camp a violent electric storm, accompanied by a 
heavy downpour of rain, which flooded the quar- 
ters and submerged everything on the ground 
within the tents, compelling the men to stand on 
their feet' for hours. The vivid flashes of elec- 
tricity, the fearful peals of thunder, reminded one 
of the progress of a mighty battle, and was a 
fitting precursor of the morrow's bloody day. 

At daylight, Saturday, May 31, came the order 
to march. Although we knew the enemy was 
in close proximity to Richmond and extending his 
lines closer, with the intention of investing the 
city, yet we were at a loss to determine where we 
were going, as we had not received orders to be 
ready to move. Much difficulty was encountered 
in crossing the small branches, which had over- 
flowed their banks, but we finally made our way 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 105 

into the Williamsburg road, learning on the way 
from parties coming from the front that a battle 
was imminent. Hurrying forward at quickstep, 
turning to the right from the Williamsburg 
road, we found ourselves in line of battle on 
the edge of a swamp in a wood, where we re- 
mained until about i P. M., hearing the boom 
of cannon, and indistinctly the rattle of musketry, 
apparently far to our left. Not long after the 
hour mentioned, we were hurried away to the left 
to Seven Pines, where we soon found ourselves 
face to face with the enemy, in part the Federal 
division of General Silas Casey, whose earthworks 
and camp we carried, including some of his artil- 
lery. The forces engaged, as given by General 
Longstreet in his "Manassas to Appomattox," 
were: Union troops, 18,500; Confederates, 
14,600; Union losses, 5,031; Confederate, 4,798. 
This engagement was called by the Confederates 
the Battle of Seven Pines. 

I have not been able to secure my brigade or 
regimental loss but my company loss was : A. D. 
Manning, killed ; Sergeant E. R. Walker, Privates 
Travis Burton, John W. Hight and Joseph Lewy, 
wounded. Our ensign, Mays, acted with his usual 
gallantry. 

The right wing of the Confederate army, under 
General Longstreet, had defeated the left wing of 



106 THE STORY OF 

the Union army, captured its intrenchments, guns 
and camp, and driven it for quite a distance, but 
the Confederate left wing had not been so for- 
tunate as the right. In this battle, after we had 
broken General Casey's lines, some Union sharp- 
shooters took cover in the swamp in our front, 
one of whom at about seventy-five yards fired 
at me, the ball grazing my cap. 

A short time previous to the Battle of Seven 
Pines, our brigadier-general, A. P. Hill, had been 
made major-general. Colonel Kemper had been 
promoted to brigadier-general and was in com- 
mand of the brigade during the above-mentioned 
engagement. General Joseph E. Johnston, com- 
manding the Confederate army in this battle, was 
badly wounded, and General Robert E. Lee was 
appointed to succeed him in the command. 

We left the battleground, as now recalled, on 
June 2, returning to camp, a few days after which 
the 24th Virginia regiment, which had been with 
Early's, then with Garland's brigade, was united 
with ours — now composed of the ist, 7th, nth, 
17th and 24th Virginia regiments. 



Chapter XI 



Preparations for Active Field Service. 

Dress Parade and Speeches of General Kemper 
and Colonel Patton. 

Battles Around Richmond. 

Gaines' Mill or Cold Harbor. 

Frazier's Farm and Malvern Hill. 

Testing a Man's Courage. 

Casualties. 

In Pursuit of the Enemy. 

In Camp Near the Chickahominy. 

Sickness and Death. 

Threatening Attitude of the Enemy in Northern 
Virginia. 

Concentration of the Confederate Army on the 
Rappahannock. 

Pope's Bravado. 

Lieutenant Hugh M. Patton Succeeds Stark as 
Adjutant, and Sergeant Parke Appointed Sergeant- 
Major, Succeeding George S. Tansill. 



FOLLOWING the Battle of Seven Pines, and 
the period preceding the opening of the 
battles around Richmond, at Mechanicsville 
on June 26, all were engaged in drilling and 
gathering in absentees. Muskets were put in 
order, cartridge boxes, bayonets and gun straps 
were issued. Inspection of arms and accouter- 
ments, and dress parades were frequent, and the 
word went from lip to lip that something was 
up, that all this preparation meant business, and 
that right early. 

Rations were cooked and distributed on 
Wednesday, June 25, and everything put in shape 
to move on short notice. Being on parade on 
the evening of the day last referred to. General 
Kemper and Colonel Patton made soul-stirring 
speeches, telling us that the great battle of the 
revolution was now to be fought, and if we were 
successful the Confederacy would be a free coun- 
try, and we would all go home together ; if beaten, 
the war must be prolonged for years. 

Leaving camp in the early morning of the 
26th, we marched in the direction of Mechanics- 
ville bridge, on the Chickahominy, halting a short 
distance from the bridge under cover of timber 
on the roadside, from which we could, late in 



no THE STORY OF 

the afternoon, hear the roar of the battle at 
Mechanicsville beyond the river, then being" 
fought by the Confederate division of General 
A. P. Hill and the Federal corps of Porter. As 
the darkness came on the flash of their guns 
could be seen distinctly, the battle continuing until 
nearly 9 o'clock. At dawn the firing across the 
river was renewed, continuing for a time. The 
movement of our force was then made across the 
bridge, following the track of the retreating foe, 
whose course was marked by the destruction of 
commissary stores. Reaching the vicinity of 
Gaines' Mill at noon, a line of battle was formed 
behind and near the crest of a low range of hills, 
hiding us from the view of the enemy. In our 
immediate front were the brigades of Pickett, 
Wilcox and Pryor, who were to lead the assault 
on our part of the line, with our brigade in sup- 
port. Near the middle of the afternoon the 
battle opened with fury, raging with varying 
fortune until nearly dark, when our troops broke 
over the Union lines, forcing their men from the 
field : a victory dearly bought. Kemper's brigade 
was not called into action, though lying under 
fearful shelling, but fortunately we were just 
near enough the crest of the ridge to avoid the 
shells, which passed in most part over us. We 
suffered but little if any loss. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 111 

The Federals engaged in this battle numbered 
about 35,000; their loss in killed, wounded and 
missing, 7,000, besides twenty-two pieces of ar- 
tillery which fell into our hands. The Confed- 
erates no doubt had the larger number engaged, 
and their casualties were, therefore, greater, but 
seem not to have been reported. 

Next morning we marched over the field on 
which the Confederate brigades of Wilcox, 
Pickett and Pryor, with others, had made heroic 
fight, and it is almost incredible that a single line 
of Confederates should have forced their way in 
the face of the murderous fire they met, over such 
a position, which was to all appearances impreg- 
nable, and certainly was, except as against men 
fighting for homes, firesides, and principles which 
they regarded as dearer than life. 

We occupied the field Saturday, in a position 
to make or ta receive an attack, but the enemy 
was in no plight — in fact, in no mood, to attack 
us, but on the contrary was making for the James 
River, though we did not then know it. Our 
officers did not seem to know with certainty what 
direction the enemy was taking, as his movement 
was well masked. It seems to have been dis- 
covered late on the evening of Saturday, the 
28th, or early on Sunday morning, the 29th, that 
General McClellan, with his army, was making 



112 THE STORY OF 

for the shelter of the Union naval fleet on the 
James, and such being the understanding, Long- 
street's and A. P. Hill's divisions at an early 
hour on Sunday morning were pushed across the 
Chickahominy via New Bridge, and to the Darby- 
town road, to intercept the retreat. The day was 
warm, the roads dusty, and the march fatiguing, 
especially as it was rapid for fifteen or eighteen 
miles. Pushing ahead early the next day, Mon- 
day, June 30, the enemy was encountered about 
noon. The skirmishers were soon engaged, but 
the advance of our troops did not begin until about 
4 o'clock P. M., and after we had suffered for 
two or more hours from a severe shelling. While 
under this* severe fire and in line in the woods, 
in a swamp amidst brambles and vines, a shell 
from one of the enemy's guns burst immediately 
in our front and only a few feet away, scattering 
the fragments and shrapnel in our midst, one 
of which struck a man close by me, burying itself 
in a testament in his breast pocket, which thus 
saved his life. 

The point where the encounter took place was 
known locally as Frazier's farm. The only Con- 
federate troops engaged were the two divisions 
above mentioned, which had been sorely reduced 
by the casualties at Seven Pines, Mechanicsville 
and Gaines' Mill, as well as by sickness, the ex- 




Lieut. Ellsha M. Stone 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 113 

haustion of a rapid march, and by straggling, 
to about 12,000 men. These were pitted against 
the main body of the Union army. 

From the firing we had every reason to beheve 
that the enemy was close at hand in large num- 
bers, seemingly not distant more than half a mile. 
The advance of our forces was through a dense 
wood, tangled underbrush filled with brambles, 
and partly covered by water, with no possibility 
of keeping the men up to their places, the stronger 
ones pushing through over the obstacles, while 
many of the weaker, unable to keep pace, were 
left behind. Kemper's brigade was leading and 
his advance soon became a charge, the enemy 
being posted on the farther side of an open field. 
Some of the line officers implored the regimental 
commander to halt long enough to get the men 
in order and close the ranks, but the officer cried 
out: ''Forward! Forward!" and on rushed the 
men, every man his own general, which they 
usually were in making such a charge. 

In a fierce battle a man's courage is severely 
tested. Here our regiment is in battle line on 
the edge of a wood ; less than a quarter of a mile 
in front is another wood, sheltering the enemy; 
between the opposing forces is an open field; the 
regiment is advancing and the lines move out into 
the clear sunlight. Men will hurriedly reason 



114 THE STORY OF 

with themselves: **The enemy is posted in that 
timber across the field; before we move many- 
yards he will open on us with shot and shell; 
this is perhaps my last day on earth." So each 
man reasons, but every face is sternly set to the 
front and not a man falters. The shell and shot 
blow dozens to gory fragments, but the line does 
not halt, the living saying to themselves : 'The 
fire will presently change to cannister, then I shall 
certainly be struck." The prediction is being 
verified, gaps are opened through the ranks, only 
to be closed again ; the regiment has lost its adhe- 
sion and marching step, its lines are no longer 
perfect, but the movement is still onward. From 
knowledge of methods in battle, our men sup- 
pose the infantry is in support of the battery. 
We have escaped shell and cannister, but when 
we meet the musketry fire we shall be killed. 
There is no hanging back, no thought but to push 
ahead. The leaden hail now comes and the lines 
are further disordered; the left wing has lost its 
front by quite a distance, but the push is forward, 
men grip their guns, their eyes flash, and with 
a yell, on to the battery they rush, bayonetting 
the cannoneers at their posts. The Federal in- 
fantry supports give way precipitately — then fol- 
lows that famous bone-searching rebel yell of 
triumph. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 115 

The brigade, led by the brave General Kemper, 
met a shower of shot, shell, cannister and storm 
of leaden bullets; it never faltered, rushed upon 
the Union battery — Randol's Pennsylvania — 
routing its infantry supports. Here Ensign 
Mays planted the colors of the 7th regiment on 
the Union guns. They were ours, won, however, 
at fearful cost. The failure promptly to support 
our brigade — the enemy flanking us on both 
wings — caused General Kemper to order the re- 
tirement of the brigade, now suffering severe loss 
from the fire of these flanking columns, which 
in turn were themselves flanked and defeated by 
the troops coming to our support. Such, is the 
fearful game of war with men of the same valor 
and blood. 

The brigade casualties were 414, of which! 44 
were killed, 205 wounded and 165 missing. Regi- 
mental loss in the 7th Virginia, iii, of which 14 
were killed, 66 wounded and 31 missing. Adju- 
tant E. B. Starke was killed and Sergeant-Major 
Tansill severely wounded, disabled for further 
service. Sergeant-Major Tansill had been a sol- 
dier in our war with Mexico, and was one of the 
most efficient, the bravest and best of our soldiers. 
The gallant Lieutenant, afterwards Captain 
James G. Tansill, of Company E, of the 7th regi- 
ment, was the son of Sergeant-Major Tansill. 



116 THE STORY OF 

The loss in my company was i6. Killed, Cap- 
tain Joel Blackard ; mortally wounded, Ballard P. 
Meadows, Lee E. Vass and Joseph Eggleston; 
the other wounded were: J. C. Shannon, Daniel 
Bish, Jesse B. Young, David C. Akers, H. J. Wil- 
burn, Tim P. Darr, Francis M. Gordon, George 
A. Minnich, T. P. Mays, John W. Sarver and 
Joseph Suthern. Captured, Allen M. Bane. 
Ballard P. Meadows was made a prisoner and 
died in the hands of the enemy. Upon the fall 
of the brave and lamented Captain Blackard, the 
command of the company devolved upon First 
Lieutenant Robert H. Bane, a gallant soldier, and 
a worthy successor to Captain Blackard. Second 
Lieutenant Mullins became first lieutenant; E. 
M. Stone, second lieutenant, and Sergeant E. R. 
Walker was elected second junior lieutenant. 

During that night our troops rested on the field 
without disturbance from the enemy, who con- 
tinued his flank movement, a masterly retreat, 
to a position at Malvern Hill, on the banks of the 
James : a position of great natural strength, where 
the entire Union army was concentrated, sup- 
ported by the gunboats in the river. The Battle 
of Malvern Hill did not begin until the after- 
noon, but its tide swept to and fro until far into 
the night. The divisions of Longstreet and A. P. 
Hill were held in reserve, close up, but not called 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 117 

into action, near enough, however, to be in range 
of the enemy's artillery and heavy projectiles 
thrown from the gunboats, inspiring fear and 
terror among our men not justified by their execu- 
tion. The repeated charges of our troops against 
the enemy's stronghold failed to dislodge him. 
Our men were repulsed; they had bearded the 
lion in his den ; he refused to yield ; he could not 
afford to, for if he did he had but one place to 
go and that was into the river, or the alternative, 
of surrendering. In the Battle of Frazier's Farm 
the Federals largely outnumbered the Confeder- 
ates. They lost ten guns) captured by the Con- 
federates, who, when the battle closed, held the 
greater part of the field. The Federal General 
McCall was captured by the 47th Virginia regi- 
ment. 

At the opening of the campaign, the Union 
army numbered 105,000, the Confederate 80,762 
— tremendous armies, when we come to think of 
it. The losses on each side, up to the Battle of 
Malvern Hill, in killed and wounded, were 
thought to be equal, but in that battle it is stated 
upon authority that the Confederate loss was 
about 5,000 men, the Union loss about one-third 
that number. During the Battle of Malvern Hill, 
Mr. Davis, President of the Confederate States, 



118 THE STORY OF 

was with us in the morning and under the fire of 
the gunboats. 

It being ascertained that the enemy had re- 
treated during the previous night, we hastened 
in pursuit, amidst a heavy rainstorm, and after 
a fatiguing, disagreeable, all-day march, found 
the enemy in a strong position at Westover, on 
the James. As he showed no disposition to come 
out from his cover, our army, about July 8, 
reached its camps in the vicinity of Richmond. 
It had been a wonderful series of battles. Gen- 
eral McClellan had made a most masterly re- 
treat, escaping from woeful disaster. It was 
within the range of probability, in fact, almost 
a certainty, that if the Confederate army had 
been under as good discipline as it was two years 
later, the Union army would have been destroyed 
or made prisoners. As it was, the Federal loss 
was nearly 16,000 men and 54 pieces of artillery, 
while the Confederate loss was reckoned at about 
19,000 men. Richmond had been saved, the 
enemy driven far away. General McClellan prov- 
ing himself better at a retreat than going the 
other way. 

After the enemy had taken shelter under the 
protection of his gunboats at Westover, the Con- 
federate commissariat attempted to reach the large 
amount of supplies held by the farmers along the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 119 

James River. Numerous wagons were sent under 
escort to secure these supplies. Our Company D, 
going on one of these trips, was attacked by 
Union gunboats, into which we fired quite a 
number of volleys of musketry at close range, 
being sheltered by the river bank, and in return 
received a severe shelling. A few men were 
wounded, and I received a shot on the side of the 
foot, but not much of a hurt. 

From July 8 to August 13, a period of inac- 
tivity ensued, and as usual in that swampy coun- 
try, with bad water, there was much sickness 
among the men. Lewis R. Skeens, of Company 
D, died in camp and was buried near by. Charles 
W. Peck, George W. Akers, William, C. Fortner, 
James B. Henderson, John R. Crawford, and the 
writer were taken sick and sent to hospital at 
Richmond, where Peck and Akers died. Fort- 
ner, Henderson, Crawford and the writer im- 
proved rapidly, and were ready to return to our 
command by the middle of August. 

General McClellan's Union army was shut up 
at Westover, and being* depleted by the ravages 
of sickness and death. This fact, together with 
the threatening attitude of a new Federal army 
in Northern Virginia, induced General Lee, who 
now had apparently nothing to fear from Mc- 
Clellan, to concentrate his army on the Rappahar^- 



120 THE STORY OF 

nock, and to thati end about the middle of July 
had transferred General Jackson and his command 
to the Rapidan — which, by the early days of 
August, was in the vicinity of the enemy — and 
closed with him at Cedar Mountain on August 
9, forcing the enemy to retire on Culpeper court 
house. 

Longstreet's division left Richmond Wednes- 
day, August 13, for Gordonsville and the Rapidan, 
our brigade moving by rail. Learning that our 
division was moving, Fortner, Henderson, Craw- 
ford and the writer, the sick bunch above alluded 
to, applied for discharge from the hospital, and 
procured transportation via Lynchburg. Reach- 
ing Orange court house on the i8th, we left the 
railway, taking the track of the advancing army. 
The first day's tramp finished up Fortner and 
Henderson, both of whom were still feeble; and 
it also finished up my shoes, leaving me barefoot ; 
in fact, had none I could wear until after our 
return from Maryland a month later. Leaving 
Fortner and Henderson on the road, Crawford 
and I pushed on, rejoining our command on the 
Rappahannock. Fortner overtook us in a few 
days, and in time to go into the battle of the 
30th, when he received a severe wound. Poor 
Fortner! Misfortune seemed now to be his lot, 
going and coming. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 121 

By August 20 the greater part of General 
Lee's army was on the Rappahannock, confront- 
ing the Union army under General John Pope, 
on the opposite bank. Pope, who, it is stated, 
had said a few days before in an address to his 
troops that "his headquarters were in the saddle, 
and that he never turned his back upon an 
enemy nor looked for lines of retreat" — which 
statement he later denied — had already run, and 
was in a position to have to run again, or at 
least to get to the rear to look after his line of 
retreat. 

Longstreet's division on August 21 moved 
forward to Kelley's ford, which we left on the 
22d, taking position near Beverly's, relieving 
some of General Jackson's command, which 
moved up the Rappahannock. For three or 
four days there was considerable skirmishing, 
with occasional artillery duels across the river. 
Again moving on thq 24th to the assistance of 
Jackson's troops, engaged with the enemy at 
some of the upper fords of the Rappahannock, 
our march was retarded by the swollen condi- 
tion of Hazel river and other small tributaries 
of the Rappahannock; reaching Jefifersonton 
that afternoon, during the progress of a lively 
cannonade. A halt was made by our division 
and Jackson's men moved up the river. Lieut. 



122 THE STORY OF 

Hugh M. Patton had been appointed Adjutant 
of the seventh regiment, succeeding Adjutant 
Starke, and Park had been ap- 
pointed Sergeant Major to succeed George S. 
Tansill, disabled and discharged. 



Chapter XII 



General Jackson With His "Foot Cavalry." 

On the Flank and in the Rear of General Pope's 
Army. 

Longstreet's Division Diverting the Enemy's At- 
tention on the Rappahannock. 

March Through Thoroughfare Gap. 

Haymarket to the Relief of Jackson's Men. 

The Fight on the 29th. 

Battle of August 30, 1862. 

Kemper Commands Division, Corse Leads the 
Brigade. 

Pope Defeated. 

Casualties. 

Rainstorm and March Through Leesburg to 
White's Ford. 

Crossing the Potomac. 

The Cry "Back to Washington" and not "On to 
Richmond." 

"Maryland, My Maryland," "Bonnie Blue Flag." 

Halt at Monocacy Bridge. 



GENERAL JACKSON with his "foot 
cavalry," as his men were often referred 
to, on account of their rapid marches and 
power of endurance, crossed the Rappahannock 
on August 25 and by swift marches placed his 
command at Manassas in the rear of General 
Pope's army, and between it arid Washington — 
our division (Longstreet's) amusing General 
Pope on the Rappahannock by making sortie in 
order to divert his attention from General Jack- 
son's movement. 

Longstreet's division crossed the river near 
Amissville on Tuesday, the 26th, reaching 
Thoroughfare Gap in the afternoon of the 28th; 
the march having been somewhat disturbed by a 
body of the enemy's cavalry. The enemy held 
the east side of the Gap in large force. The eve- 
ning was spent in reconnoitering, getting into 
position to carry the Gap. Our rations consisted 
of green corn and fresh beef. Numbers of the 
men were without shoes, including the writer. 
Some horses belonging to the wagons or am- 
bulances broke from their fastenings during the 
night, running through the camp and creating 
quite a stir, as someone called out, "Yankee 
Cavalry!" No damage was done, except the loss 



126 THE STORY OF 

of an ear by one man from the stroke of a horse's 
hoof. The man yelled, 'T've got a one ear fur- 
lough." 

The Gap next morning was flanked by our 
troops, the enemy scurrying away in time to save 
his face. After clearing the Gap and reaching 
the vicinity of the little village of Haymarket, 
there could be heard distinctly seven or eight 
miles away the roar of artillery. The day was 
warm, the roads dusty, and the men suffered for 
water. It was pathetic to see the boys with feet 
bare and bleeding endeavoring to keep pace with 
their comrades. 

A little past noon on the 29th, we arrived in 
the vicinity of the battleground, and not long 
thereafter the roar of battle to our left informed 
us that Jackson's men were hotly engaged. Later 
in the evening, the brigades of Hood and Evans, 
of Longstreet's division, engaged a portion of 
the enemy, driving him for some distance. The 
remainder of our division was in line of battle, 
prepared to attack, as we understood, a force of 
the enemy to the right, should opportunity offer. 
Our position was now between the Warrenton 
pike and Manassas Gap railway — where we were 
still subsisting on roasting ears and fresh beef; 
no large quantity at that, but the Confederate 
soldier ever bore his privations with less com- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 127 

plaint than would be supposed by those who did 
not know his enthusiasm for cause and country. 

On the morning of the 30th, during skirmish- 
ing and artillery fire along the lines, the com- 
mand to which we belonged moved forward a 
short distance, resting near an old rail fence 
which ran on and along a narrow country road. 
All firing ceased about noon, and quiet continued 
until about 3 o'clock P. M., when it was broken 
by the lumbering of artillery and the crash of small 
arms. While lying on the road referred to, A. J. 
Thompson and John Q. Martin, of Company D, 
came near having a serious fight, which was 
finally terminated by the interference of Colonel 
Patton. In a few minutes after this trouble, the 
battle opened on the left, rolling towards us. The 
order came, and the brigade, under command 
of Colonel Corse, went forward at double quick, 
over a field, through the woods, and into open 
ground, where the enemy was in line of battle. 
The charge of the division under General Kemper, 
the brigade under Colonel Corse, was impetuous 
and most gallant, routing the Union infantry and 
capturing a Maine battery and some regimental 
flags. General Pope's army was defeated and 
in retreat. It was now dark. The forces en- 
gaged on the Union side, under General Pope, 
in this series of battles around Manassas 



128 THE STORY OF 

amounted to 74,578 men; those on the side of the 
Confederates, 49,077. The casualties in the 
Union army were 1,747 killed, 8,452 wounded, 
4263 missing; aggregate, 14,462. On the side 
of the Confederates, 1468 were killed, 7563 
wounded, and 81 missing; aggregate, 91 12. 
Thirty Union field guns were captured by the 
Confederates, with 20,000 small arms, including 
a number of colors. 

Our brigade loss was 33 killed, 240 wounded, 
and one missing; aggregate, 274. The regi- 
mental loss was Col. W. T. Patton, Lieut. Col. 
C. C. Flowerree, Major Swinler, Adjutant Pat- 
ton and Sergt. Major Park, all of whom were 
severely wounded, Major Swinler losing a leg, 
and Adjutant Patton and Sergt. Major Park be- 
ing disabled for further service. The loss in- 
cluding those mentioned was five killed, 48 
wounded; aggregate 53. 

The loss in my company was 16, equal to 
about one-third of the regimental loss : John Q. 
Martin, killed; wounded. Lieutenant John W. 
Mullins and 14 privates, viz: William H. Carr, 
John S. Dudley, Elbert S. Eaton, Adam Thomp- 
son, William C. Fortner, James H. Fortner, 
Francis H. Farley, J. Tyler Frazier, John W. 
Hight, G. L. Wilburn, H. J. Wilburn, William 
I. Wilburn, James J. Nye and Washington R. C. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 129 

Vass. The two latter were mortally wounded, 
Vass dying that night and Nye a few days there- 
after. A. L. Fry had been sent with our wounded 
Lieutenant Mullins to Warrenton, and was 
there captured by the enemy after the army had 
crossed the Potomac. 

I must speak here of some little incidents in 
connection with this battle which I think worthy 
of notice. The advance of the brigade in the 
charge encountered a rail fence, a short distance 
beyond which was the enemy's battery, and its 
battle line of infantry supports. When near the 
fence, fearless Lieutenant-Colonel Flowerree — a 
mere boy, scarcely 21 years of age — shouted: 
"Up to the fence, 7th regiment, and give them 
h— 1!" 

In closing on the battery, the man at the breach 
was in the act of firing, when bold Ike Hare, of 
my company, directly in front of the guns, cried 
out, "Fire !" Whiz ! went the ball over the heads 
of the men, who the next moment, with Colonel 
Skinner of the First Virginia regiment, were 
among the cannoneers, the Colonel, with heavy 
sabre in hand, cutting right and left, receiving a 
wound in the encounter which retired him from 
the service. 

I went out to help gather up the wounded, and 
to get me a pair of trousers and shoes, both of 



130 THE STORY OF 

which I had need of, and which I procured, 
selecting a dead Union soldier about my size. His 
shoes I could not wear, as they were too small, 
and I gave them to a comrade; and I almost re- 
gretted having put on his trousers, for they were 
inhabited by the same sort of graybacks common 
to the Confederate and Union soldiers. After 
more than 50 years the thought of this wretched 
parasite makes my flesh itch. But these pests 
were unavoidable to soldiers continually on the 
march through mud, mire, and over dusty roads, 
without opportunity to cleanse their clothes or 
make a change thereof, and this was particularly 
so with the Confederate soldier, who seldom had, 
or could procure a change of raiment. 

In front of our regiment fell mortally wounded 
Colonel Fletcher Webster, of Massachusetts, the 
only son of Daniel Webster, where he lay until 
next day. 

As was usual following the great battles of 
our war, there came down that night, and con- 
tinuing the most of the next two days, a heavy 
downpour of rain; a great blessing to the 
wounded, who needed the cooler temperature, as 
some relief at least from the warm and oppres- 
sive heat. 

Our time on Sunday was occupied in burying 
the dead and caring for the wounded, then be- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 131 

ing relieved by others. On Monday, September 
I, followed the command of General Jackson to 
Chantilly, where he had a heavy engagement 
with the enemy. From here we marched on the 
3d, 4th and 5th, passing through Leesburg and 
to White's Ford on the Potomac River, where 
camp w^as made on the evening of the 5th. 

At Leesburg an order came for all sick and 
shoeless men to remain there : an unfortunate or- 
der, in some respects, as it was construed by a 
great many of the men to mean just anyone who 
did not want to go over the river into Maryland. 
There had already been large depletion of the 
ranks, after leaving Richmond, caused by strag- 
gling — partly by shoeless and sick men, and 
partly, doubtless, from other causes. Rapid 
marching and insufficient, indifferent, or no food, 
had much to do with the straggling. Judging 
other commands by my own, I can state that 
much too large a number of men remained at 
Leesburg, stretching the pretext to cover far 
more than was intended by the order. But 
when it is remembered that the army within a 
period of ninety days had fought not less than 
eleven pitched battles, sustaining losses in the 
aggregate of fully thirty-five thousand men, and 
that in addition to this they had engaged in many 
skirmishes, in which numbers of men were lost. 



132 THE STORY OF 

and that the use of bad water and bad or insuf- 
ficient food had depleted the ranks by thousands ; 
and again, further considering that a large por- 
tion of the army had marched from Richmond 
to the Potomac, hundreds shoeless and more be- 
coming so — it is not strange there were so many 
stragglers, sick and barefooted men. They 
amounted to probably 20,000. I think a great 
many remained at Leesburg who were not sick 
or barefoot, because of their aversion to fighting 
beyond Virginia territory, north of the Potomac. 
In one or more of these things enumerated, I 
may say thousands of men found excuses, or 
made them, to fall out of ranks along the line of 
march, finally to halt at Leesburg — men whose 
help was sorely needed at Sharpsburg. 

The Potomac River was forded on the morn- 
ing of September 6, amid the singing of ''Mary- 
land, My Maryland," and the shouts and cheer- 
ing of the men. "Back to Washington," the cry, 
instead of "On to Richmond," which we had 
heard from our foes. Winchester was made the 
rendezvous for all the sick, lame, shoeless and 
others who remained as we passed Leesburg. 

That night we camped at a little village, or 
crossroad hamlet, I think called Buckeystown. 
Next day, the 7th, a halt was made at the rail- 
way bridge over the Monocacy, two miles or 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 133 

more from Frederick, Maryland. Many of the 
shoeless, and others too plucky to remain at 
Leesburg, still kept their places with their com- 
rades, following the fortunes of the army 
throughout the campaign. I was one of the num- 
ber that made this tramp with bare feet. 



Chapter XIII 



A Soldier's Equipment. 

Washing His Clothes. 

How He Ate and Slept. 

March Through Frederick. 

Middletown. 

Hagerstown. 

A Soldier in Active Service in the Field. 

What He Possesses. 

Indications of Southern Sympathy. 

The Return from Hagerstown. 

Battle of Boonsboro and Casualties. 

Retreat to Sharpsburg and Battle. 

Thirteen Days in Maryland. 

Back in Virginia. 



A MUSKET, cartridge box with forty 
rounds of cartridges, cloth haversack, 
blanket and canteen made up the Con- 
federate soldier's equipment. No man was al- 
lowed a change of clothing, nor could he have 
carried it. A gray cap, jacket, trousers and col- 
ored shirt — calico mostly — made up a private's 
wardrobe. When a clean shirt became neces- 
sary, we took off the soiled one, went to the 
water, usually without soap, gave it a little rub- 
bing, and if the sun was shining, hung the shirt 
on a bush to dry, while the wearer sought the 
shade to give the shirt a chance. The method 
of carrying our few assets was to roll them in a 
blanket, tying each end of the roll, which was 
then swung over the shoulder. At night this 
blanket was unrolled and wrapped around its 
owner, who found a place on the ground with 
his cartridge box for a pillow. We cooked but 
little, having usually little to cook. The frying 
pan was in use, if we had one. 

We remained three days at Monocacy, during 
which time the bridge was destroyed by our en- 
gineers. The morning of Wednesday, Septem- 
ber ID, our division marched through Frederick, 
Middletown, Boonsboro, and to Hagerstown, 



138 THE STORY OF 

reaching the latter place the evening of the 1 1 th, 
and going into camp half a mile to the south of 
the town. Subsistence was still a pressing need, 
green corn and fresh beef becoming monotonous. 

In Frederick our hearts were made glad by 
unmistakable signs of friendship and sympathy. 
A bevy of pretty girls, singing ^'Maryland, My 
Maryland," on seeing our battle flag inscribed 
"Seven Pines," proposed "three cheers for the 
battle flag of Seven Pines," which were heartily 
and lustily given by us. In Middletown we met 
no smiles, but a decided Union sentiment was in 
evidence. In Hagerstown we observed indica- 
tions and heard some expressions of Southern 
sentiment, but none that satisfied us that they 
were ready, and willing to shed their blood for 
the Southern cause. 

The troops of Stonewall Jackson, together with 
those of McLaws and Walker, were now rapidly 
moving to invest and capture the Union garrison 
of some 13,000 men, at Harper's Ferry. During 
the march from Frederick, the Confederate rear 
was protected by a cavalry force under General 
Stuart, and infantry under General D. H. Hill. 
In the wake of this rear guard, following leisurely 
was the Union army under General McClellan, 
quite a hundred thousand strong, including a 
powerful artillery of 300 guns. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 139 

On Sunday, just before noon of the 14th, the 
long roll sounded calling" the men into line, and 
a quick movement was made east in the direction 
of Boonsboro and Turner's Gap. Wagons, 
artillery and ambulances cleared the road, giving 
us the right of way. At Hagerstown was left 
General Toombs' Georgia brigade, and one regi- 
ment of G. T. Anderson's to watch a Federal 
gathering force just across the Maryland line. 
The day was hot, the road hard and dusty, the 
march rapid — so much so that many of the men 
broke down, falling by the wayside. The 
emergency demanded the presence of our division 
on the field of battle, which we knew, having 
learned on our way thati General Hill's division 
had been attacked at Turner's Gap beyond 
Boonsboro by a largely superior force, perhaps 
by the larger part of General McClellan's Union 
army. Let it now be remembered that this army 
made fourteen miles to the immediate vicinity 
of the battleground in three and a half hours — 
good time for a Hamiltonian horse. Now with 
other troops we were hurried up the mountain to 
the right of the main gap (Turner's), and after 
getting near the firing line, and finding Con- 
federate troops there holding the enemy in 
steady fight, our steps were retraced to the Gap. 
From thence we were ordered to the left, climbing 



140 THE STORY OF 

the mountain side in full view of the enemy to 
our right, and in range of one of his batteries on 
a plateau to our right rear, which threw shot and 
shell thick and fast, striking the head of the lead- 
ing company of my regiment and killing one man 
instantly. On reaching the crest of the moun- 
tain we found ourselves face to face with the 
enemy and close up to them, and under fire be- 
fore we were able to get into formation. The 
brigades of Rodes and Evans on the left were 
engaged in strong combat with the force in their 
front, and as soon as Garnett's and Jenkins' 
brigades filled the space on the right and con- 
nected with Colquit's Georgia brigade, which was 
astride the turnpike, the fighting along the line 
became general and fierce, as much so as brave 
men on both sides could make it. 

The writer's brigade was now in a body of 
open timber, among stones — large boulders, wath 
some fallen timber along the line, behind which, 
lying down, the men took shelter as best they 
could ; the enemy occupying a skirt of w^oods with 
a strip of open land between their position and 
ours. For two or more hours the battle raged, 
or until darkness fell, the enemy making re- 
peated but unsuccessful efforts to dislodge our 
men. The firing having ceased, there was heard 
in our front the tramp of the enemy's feet, evi- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 141 

dently preparing to renew the assault. In a few 
minutes, a few yards to the right, in which lay 
a portion of the brigade in the edge of a field, 
where at the beginning of the battle was standing 
corn (now cut to the ground) came the sound of 
a voice, "There they are, men! Fire on them!" 
Suddenly came a sheet of flame with a deafening 
crash from the guns of each of the combatants, 
plainly disclosing them to be within a few feet 
of each other. The flame from the respective 
muskets seemed to intermingle. The well-di- 
rected fire of the Confederates caused confusion in 
the enemy's ranks and compelled them to retire. 
Among the casualties on our side from this 
rencounter was Adjutant John W. Daniel of the 
nth Virginia, who received a severe wound in 
the hand. This same Daniel served with dis- 
tinction in the United States Senate, dying a 
year or so ago. Such was the character of many 
a noble man engaged in this horrid game of 
death. 

It was now 9 o'clock or after and intensely 
dark, especially in the timber where we were. 
Wounded comrades had to be removed and 
cared for; this had to be done quietly, as the 
enemy was in whispering distance. As heretofore 
stated, Company D of the 7th Virginia carried 
into the battle of Second Manassas forty men, of 



142 THE STORY OF 

which sixteen were killed and wounded, leaving 
twenty-four, including commissioned officers. 
After crossing the Potomac and on entering the 
battle at Boonsboro Gap, we had twenty-one 
commissioned officers and men. In this battle 
were lost four men: T. P. Mays, killed; James 
Cole, mortally wounded; George Knoll, severely, 
and John R, Crawford, slightly wounded. Mays 
was serving in the capacity of ensign of the regi- 
ment, and died at the front, where danger was 
met and glory won, with that flag which he had 
so gallantly, proudly and defiantly borne aloft on 
many victorious fields. Brave and undaunted, 
he ever led where duty called, sharing the hard- 
ships and privations of camp life, the march and 
dangers of battle, without a murmur, and dying 
with his flag unfurled and its staff clenched in 
his hands. May the memory of Tapley P. Mays 
rest in peace. 

With two commissioned officers, Captain Bane 
and Lieutenant Stone, and fifteen men we left the 
field a little after 9 o'clock at night, carrying one 
of the wounded, George Knoll, who had an ankle 
bone fractured. Knoll was borne on the back of 
Isaac Hare a mile or more to the hospital in 
Boonsboro. 

The officers and men of Company D who went 
into the battle of Boonsboro were Capt. R. H. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 143 

Bane, Lieut. E. M. Stone; men of the line, Travis 
Burton, John R. Crawford, James Cole, John S. 
Dudley, John A. Hale, Isaac Hare, B. L. Hoge, 
J. J. Hurt, John F. Jones, David E. Johnston, 
George Knoll, John Meadows, T. P. Mays, W. 
W. Munsey, William D. Peters, W. H. H. Sni- 
dow, R. M. Stafford, Thomas S. Taylor and A. 
J. Thompson. The- cook in Company D, Alex- 
ander Bolton, remained with the supply trains 
and was not in the engagement. 

The forces in this battle on the Federal side, 
according to the report of General McClellan, 
numbered 30,000, while the Confederate force, 
as stated by General D. H. Hill and others, was 
9000. The Federal loss was 181 3 in fifty-nine 
infantry regiments engaged; 325 killed, 1403 
wounded, and 85 missing. The Confederate loss 
was 224 killed, 860 wounded, and 800 made pris- 
oners. There are but few regimental reports of 
losses, therefore I am unable to give those in the 
7th Virginia. I am satisfied that of the four 
brigades of Evans, Kemper, Garnett and Jenkins, 
sent late in the evening to reinforce the Confed- 
erate left, not more than one thousand men 
reached the firing line, but these were iron soldiers 
equal to the emergency, holding more than 5000 
of the enemy at bay until we were ready to leave 
the field. The superb fighting in this battle — 



144 THE STORY OF 

if at this day a fight can be called something 
superb — prevented the enemy from occupying the 
Gap, thus sealing the fate of the Union garrison 
at Harper's Ferry, which surrendered the follow- 
ing morning, the tidings whereof came to us 
about noon, causing much rejoicing. 

Now set in an all night's march to the scene 
of the struggle at Sharpsburg, called in the 
North "Antietam," among the most gigantic and 
awful in the history of warfare. When daylight 
came Monday, we were at Keedysville, midway 
between the points mentioned, not having reached 
the field of Sharpsburg until 12 o'clock. Having 
been on our feet all night, without sleep or food, 
save green corn or apples, placed us in no cheer- 
ful mood, but in good fighting temper, as hungry 
soldiers fight better than well fed ones. Num- 
bers of men straggled off along the march, and 
even after the Antietam was crossed, in search 
of food, a number of whom did not get back in 
the ranks for the battle. 




Lieut. John W, Mullins 



Chapter XIV 



Number of Men for Action in Kemper's Brigade. 

General D. R. Jones' Division. 

Confederate Cavalry. 

General Lee Playing Bluff with McClellan. 

The Opening of the Battle. 

Burnside's Attack and Repulse. 

The Casualties. 

Re-crossing the Potomac. 



WHEN Kemper's brigade was called to 
action at Sharpsburg, it did not number 
400 muskets. The only regimental re- 
port accessible of the number going into action 
and the loss is that of Colonel Corse of the 17th 
Virginia (himself wounded), who says he led 
into the action fifty-five officers and men, all of 
whom were lost but five. The ist Virginia did 
not number more than 30, the nth Virginia 85, 
the 24th probably no, and I know (for I counted 
them) that the 7th Virginia had' but 117, Com- 
pany D having but two commissioned officers 
and fifteen men before action began. Sergeant 
Taylor, sent in quest of rations, did not return 
with the food until the battle had ended. John 
S. Dudley, on the skirmish line, was wounded and 
captured. He, with Taylor, made the fifteen, leav- 
ing for battle two officers and thirteen men. 
Kemper's brigade belonged to General D. R. 
Jones' division, which was composed of the 
brigades of Jenkins, Garnett, Jones, under Colonel 
Geo. T. Anderson, Drayton, Kemper and Toombs, 
numbering on that morning, by the report of 
General Jones, 2400 men — far too many. 

The division of General Jones held the ground 
in front and southeast of Sharpsburg, extending 



148 THE STORY OF 

from the Boonsboro-Sharpsburg pike along the 
ridges and range of hills in front, south and east 
of the old road to Harper's Ferry, nearly a mile 
in length, covering the approaches from what 
has since been known as Burnside's bridge over 
the Antietam. Robertson's cavalry brigade, un- 
der Colonel Thomas T. Munford, was in observa- 
tion on the extreme right along the Antietam and 
toward the Potomac; General Stuart, with Gen- 
eral Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry brigade, the 13th 
Virginia regiment of infantry, with a number of 
batteries holding the extreme Confederate left, 
Hampton's cavalry brigade not in the fight, but 
in reserve, in rear of Stuart's position. 

It is stated upon authority that during Mon- 
day, September 15, and for most of Tuesday, the 
1 6th, General Lee confronted General McClel- 
lan's Union army with only the divisions of 
Longstreet and D. H. Hill, numbering all told 
10,000 men, while General McClellan had 
60,000 men then facing Lee. 

In the afternoon of Monday, and continuing 
for the most of Tuesday, the Federal batteries 
across the Antietam kept up a lively fire, during 
which the troops, our brigade included, frequently 
shifted position, showing our flags first at one 
and then at another place, being exposed to the 
artillery fire, and getting a severe shelling. Gen- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 149 

eral Lee was playing bluff with McClellan, who 
was led to believe — and so reported! to his gov- 
ernment — that he was confronted not only by 
"a strong position, but by a strong force" — 
imaginary numbers, not real. 

Late in the evening of Tuesday the firing to 
the left seemed to increase. We heard not only 
the artillery fire but the rattle of musketry for 
quite a time after dark. Before daylight on 
Wednesday, the 17th, the artillery opened vigor- 
ously on the left, followed by the crash of small 
arms, the battle raging with intense fury for 
hours. From our position on the right we could 
not see the combatants, but could hear the crash 
of small arms and the wild rebel yell. As long 
as we could hear this yell we felt that things were 
going our way. 

The battle which began on the left had at noon 
extended to the right until the Confederate troops 
holding the open ground on the left front of 
Sharpsburg were within our view. We discov- 
ered at this time a straggling retreating line of 
Confederates closely followed by a solid blue 
line, which soon met the fire of a Confederate 
battery, causing it to retire. 

Now affairs in our front began to claim our 
attention. The 24th Virginia regiment was de- 
tached from the brigade and sent a half mile to 



150 THE STORY OF 

the right, and shortly thereafter the 7th Vir- 
ginia under Captain Phil S. Ashby was detached 
and hurried to the right, taking position in front 
of the old road leading from Sharpsburg to Har- 
per's Ferry, between the position held by the ist, 
nth and 17th Virginia regiments of the brigade, 
and that held by the 24th regiment. Upon the 
advance of the enemy we dropped back into the 
old road referred to. Captain Ashby had been 
a soldier in our war with Mexico, was a brave 
man, and when he had placed the regiment in the 
road, seeing! the advance of the enemy he drew 
his sword, saying: ''Men, we are to hold this 
position at all hazards. Not a man leave his place. 
If need be, we will die together here in this road." 
Putting our muskets through the board fence, and 
with fingers on the triggers, we awaited the 
enemy's approach through a strip of corn, some 
forty yards away.* 

Colonel Geo. T. Anderson's brigade of D. R. 
Jones' division had early in the morning been 
detached and sent to the aid of General Jackson, 
and Garnett's brigade had been taken away and 
placed in position to cover the front of Sharps- 
burg. General Lee had stripped his right in aid of 
his left, which was being sorely pressed, leaving 
General Jones tO' hold the right with the small 

*The headlong rush of Archer's brigade across the front 
of the 7th Virginia regiment prevented its firing into the 
enemy. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 151 

brigades of Jenkins, Garnett, Drayton, Kemper 
and Toombs, whose numbers I will later attempt 
to give. 

Two of General Toombs' regiments, the 15th 
and 17th Georgia, were guarding ammunition 
trains, and he, with the 2d and the 20th Georgia, 
and 50th Georgia of Drayton's brigade — in all 
numbering 403 men — with a company of sharp- 
shooters and a battery, was ordered to the de- 
fense of the bridge (Burnside's). On Wednes- 
day morning at an early hour General Burnside, 
who had been ordered to carry the bridge and 
advance to the heights at Sharpsburg, assailed 
General Toombs' men at the bridge. The stream 
is small, and at the time of the battle afforded 
but little water — could have been waded in 
dozens of places. Why the bridge? Burnside 
made the effort to carry the bridge, was five 
times repulsed by Toombs' small force, losing a 
large number of men in killed and wounded — 
exacting, however, from Toombs' regiments 
heavy toll, for his 2d Georgia lost one-half its 
numbers, and the 20th Georgia suffered heavily. 
General Toombs, finding the enemy crossing the 
stream at a ford below the bridge, and the posi- 
tion no longer tenable, withdrew his men and 
retired to the heights on which Jones' four 
brigades — ^Jenkins', Garnett's, Drayton's and 
Kemper's — were posted. General Toombs was 



152 THE STORY OF 

joined on the way by his 15th and 17th Georgia, 
and Major Little's battalion of 140 Georgia 
men. His 20th Georgia had been sent to replen- 
ish its ammunition, and only part of these men 
returned in time for the final contest. 

The enemy came in bold march at 4 P. M. He 
came in fine style and good order until probably 
half way from the Antietam to the crest of the 
heights, whereon stood the depleted Confederate 
battalions of Jenkins, Garnett, Drayton and 
Kemper, when he encountered the Confederate 
skirmish line posted behind stone and rail fences. 
These skirmishes repulsed and routed the Union 
skirmishers, making it so hot for the enemy's 
front battle line that it was only able to push 
forward by its mere momentum, but on it came, 
overrunning, killing, wounding and capturing 
the entire skirmish line, the men thereof remain- 
ing in their places, firing until he reached the 
muzzles of their muskets. The enemy's battle 
line overreached Kemper's right by several hun- 
dred yards, exposing Mcintosh's battery, the men 
thereof for the time being forced to abandon their 
guns. Kemper's and Drayton's men were 
broken off, outflanked and forced back to the 
outskirts of the village. 

General A. P. Hill with five small Confederate 
brigades which had left Harper's Ferry that 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 153 

morning, marching seventeen miles, reached the 
field at the opportune moment. Leaving two of 
his brigades to guard the approach from a ford 
on his right. General Hill threw the brigades of 
Gregg, Archer and Branch on the enemy's left 
front and flank, while General Toombs, who had 
circled around the enemy's left, being joined by 
the men of Kemper, Jenkins, Garnett and Dray- 
ton, together with Hill's three brigades, with a 
wild yell charged, the Confederate batteries 
opening fiercely; the enemy was driven from the 
field, mostly in disorder, fleeing to the banks of 
the Antietam for shelter. The field was won, the 
day was ours. In this headlong Confederate 
charge, General Branch of Hill's division was 
killed; General Gregg of the same division and 
General Toombs of Jones' division, wounded. 
Federal General Rodman was mortally wounded. 
The 24th and 7th Virginia suffered a few casual- 
ties in killed and wounded, mostly from the 
artillery fire, a few by musket balls. My com- 
pany lost Hare, and Dudley wounded, the latter 
captured on the skirmish line. 

With the utter defeat of General Burnside's 
Federal Army Corps, the battle ended, and 
Kemper's brigade occupied that night and the 
next day the same position it held when the bat- 
tle in our front opened. 



154 THE STORY OF 

No fiercer, bloodier one day's conflict occurred 
during the war than the battle of Sharpsburg, 
which was fought on the part of the Confederates 
by a worn out, broken down, naked, barefooted, 
lame and starved soldiery, against a far superior 
force of brave, well rested, well clothed and well 
fed veterans. It was an all day, stand up, toe-to- 
toe and face-to- face fight, just as close as brave 
American soldiers could make it, and in none 
other did Southern individuality and self reliance 
— characteristics of the Confederate soldier — 
shine more brilliantly or perform a more import- 
ant part. It was on this field that strategy and 
military science won the day for the Confeder- 
ates. It was mind over matter. General Lee, 
the greatest military man of the age, was on the 
field, wielding the blade that was sO' admirably 
tempered, which brought blood and destruction 
at every stroke. 

The failure of the Union soldiers to win this 
battle and utterly crush the Confederates, was 
no fault of theirs; they had the numbers and 
equipment, were courageous and brave. The 
truth is, their leader was timid, overcautious, and 
outgeneraled, fought his battle in detail, and was 
defeated in detail. General Burnside's, the larg- 
est single attacking corps, was beaten before he 
had his columns fairly deployed, and this because 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 155 

the Confederates outmaneuvered him on the field, 
had the flanks of his assaulting columns turned 
before he knew there was any Confederate force 
on the ground to turn them. Upon this occurring, 
he lost control of the battle, and the only thing 
apparent to him was to get away as quickly as 
possible, which he did, though his battle had not 
lasted an hour. 

The force engaged in this battle on the Con- 
federate right, on the Union side, was that of 
General Burnside's 9th army corps, consisting of 
twenty-nine regiments of infantry, six batteries 
of artillery, and two companies of cavalry, mak- 
ing, according to the most reliable information 
obtainable, an aggregate of 13,083. His losses 
were: Killed, 436; wounded, 1796; missing, 
115; total, 2349. 

On the Confederate side the battle was fought 
by the brigades of Jenkins, Garnett, Toombs, 
Kemper and Drayton (two regiments, 51st 
Georgia- and 15th South Carolina); Gregg's, 
Archer's and Branch's (less the i8th North Car- 
olina, on detached duty), of Hill's division. The 
24th and the 7th Virginia, except their skirmish- 
ers, did not pull a trigger, but were under the 
fire of the artillery and partly that of infantry. 
Nor did the iSth North Carolina take part in 
the battle. 



156 THE STORY OF 

From the best information I have been able 
to obtain, from the official reports and otherwise, 
I fix the number of Confederates in this battle 
against General Burnside's 13,083 men as follows : 

Jenkins' brigade 500 

Garnett's brigade 250 

Drayton's brigade (51st Ga. & 

15th S. C. Regmts.) 200 

Kemper's brigade 300 

Toombs' brigade (including Maj. 

Little's bat., 140) 600 

Total Jones' Division 1850 

A. P. Hill's three brigades, less 
1 8th North Carolina, detached 1900 

Total, both divisions 375^ 

Casuahies — General Jones reports, including 
the battle of Boonsboro, 1435. Toombs' brigade 
was not at Boonsboro, and the brigade com- 
manded by Colonel Geo. T. Anderson was de- 
tached in the early morning, and we have no 
reports from the 28th Virginia regiment of 
Garnett's brigade, and only in part from Toombs' 
regiments, and but from one regiment of 
Kemper's. Approximately, however, the losses 
were as follows: 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 157 

Col. Walker, commanding' brigade 
of Jenkins, reports 210 

Taking 4 regiments of Garnett's 
and averaging the 5th 80 

Drayton's two regiments, esti- 
mated 100 

Kemper's regiments, estimated.. 160 

Toombs, stated 346 

Total 996 

The disparity in numbers on this part of the 
field was probably greater than on any other — 
nearly three and a half to one. 

There has been, and probably will always be, 
uncertainty as to the number of men General Lee 
had in the battle of Sharpsburg. Colonel Tay- 
lor, of the staff of General Lee, and Adjutant 
General of the army, puts the number at 35,250 
— including cavalry and artillery, putting the in- 
fantry force at 27,255. This is surely incorrect 
for the reasons : first, that the returns of the 
army on the 20th of July, 1862, a few days be- 
fore the movement of the army to North Vir- 
ginia from Richmond began, show the total 
cavalry 3740. In the second place the fact is 
well known that the cavalry and artillery had 
been engaged in the battle of Cedar Run, the bat- 



158 THE STORY OF 

ties around Manassas, and at South Mountain, 
Harper's Ferry, Crampton's Pass, and Boons- 
boro, and the losses must have been large; and 
again, there were only three brigades of Con- 
federate cavalry at Sharpsburg — Lee's, Hamp- 
ton's and Robertson's, the latter under Munford, 
and there is no evidence that either of the two 
latter named fired a shot at Sharpsburg. Lee's 
brigade could not have numbered more than a 
third of the cavalry force, say 1500 — a liberal 
estimate — and the artillerists 1800. We have 
3300. A careful examination of all the sources 
of information available to me, including official 
reports, and my own personal knowledge and 
observation on the march and on the field, in- 
clines me strongly to the opinion and belief that 
the Confederate troops on the field of Sharps- 
burg on the firing line and actually engaged on 
the 1 7th of September numbered : 

Jackson's division 1600 

Ewell's division 3400 

D. H. Hill's division 3000 

D. R. Jones' division 1850 

A. P. Hill's division 1900 

Hood's division 2000 

McLaws' division 2893 

R. H. Anderson's division 350O 

J. G. Walker's division 3200 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 159 

Geo. T. Anderson's brigade 300 

N. G. Evans' division 1500 

Lee's cavalry brigade 1500 

Artillerists 1800 

Total 28,443 

Note: — There is no evidence that Armistead's 
brigade of R. H. Anderson's division drew 
trigger in this battle. 

The Confederate? casualties in the Mary- 
land campaign as given in the War 
Records 13,609 

The Federal casualties, including the gar- 
rison at Harper's Ferry 27,767 

Deducting the Harper's Ferry garrison, 
we have the Federal losses of the cam- 
paign 15.203 

Deducting Federal losses at Boonsboro 
Gap of 1 81 3, Crampton's Gap 533, we 
have approximately as the Federal loss 
in battle of Sharpsburg 12,856 

Deducting the estimated Confederate loss 
at Boonsboro Gap, Crampton's Gap and 
Harper's Ferry, 3948, from the cam- 
paign loss, we have approximately as 
the Confederate loss at Sharpsburg . . 9,661 

The actual number of Union soldiers on the 



160 THE STORY OF 

firing line in the battle of Sharpsburg could not 
have exceeded 68,000 men, but Porter's corps, 
some 19,000, was close up in the center in re- 
serve, with more than 14,000, only a march away. 
The night of the battle several of our men went 
out on the battlefield, to look after the dead and 
wounded and for other purposes. Among those 
from my company who went out in this way were 
Travis Burton and Lieutenant Stone, who shortly 
returned with an unwounded prisoner of a 
Rhode Island regiment, who had failed to get 
away with his retreating comrades. This pris- 
oner was a mere boy, who exhibited considerable 
signs of fear and trepidation, and with whom 
Captain Ashby had quite a little fun. 

On passing over a battlefield after the close of 
the battle, it will usually be observed that the 
pockets of the dead, and sometimes of the 
wounded, have been turned out. A soldier will 
generally take from the battlefield and the dead 
what he wants. 

The next day, the i8th, was in the main quiet, 
with some little picket firing; the wounded were 
being cared for and the dead buried. In the im- 
mediate front of our brigade, some fifty yards 
away, the farthest point reached by Harland's 
Federal brigade the day before, and the ground 
on which it stood, when charged by the brigades 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 161 

of Toombs and Kemper, I counted the bodies of 
33 dead Union soldiers of the 8th Connecticut 
regiment. One of the wounded was still living, 
to whom I gave a drink of water and filled his 
canteen. During the day a man of our regi- 
ment, who had gone forward to help remove the 
Federal wounded, was shot through the body 
and killed by a Federal sharpshooter, who was 
so far away that the report from his rifle was 
not heard by the men engaged in the removal of 
the wounded. 

On the night of the i8th, we left the battle line, 
moving to the Potomac, wading the river at the 
ford near Sheperdstown, and instead of singing 
when crossing the river thirteen days before, 
^'Maryland, MY Maryland!" the song was, 
"Carry me back, oh ! carry me back to old Vir- 
ginia, once more." 

A halt was made some three miles from the 
river; moving in a day or two to near Bunker 
Hill, and again to a point nearer to Winchester, 
close by a large spring, where we received quite 
a number of accessions to our ranks by the re- 
turn of the shoeless, sick, and some wounded 
men left alongi the route of our advance into 
Maryland. 



Chapter XV 



From Winchester to Culpeper. 

Reorganization of the Army. 

What Happened at Culpeper. 

To Fredericksburg and Battle There. 

In Winter Quarters. 

Incidents of the Camp. 



LONGSTREET'S command left the vicinity 
of Winchester the latter part of October, 
1862, crossing the Shenandoah river, Blue 
Ridge, and reaching Culpeper the early part of 
the first week in November, going into camp a 
short distance southeast of the court house. Sev- 
eral companies of the 7th regiment were from 
Orange, Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock, 
and while in this camp the friends of these men 
came with wagons loaded with provisions and 
clothing, supplying many of their needs, and re- 
lieving much of their suffering. 

Here the reorganization of the army was ef- 
fected into two army corps, the first commanded 
by General James Longstreet, the second by Gen- 
eral Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson. Later a 
third corps was organized, of which Lieutenant 
General A. P. Hill was appointed commander. 
Pickett's division! was also organized, composed 
of five brigades, as follows: 

First brigade. General James L. Kemper : regi- 
ments 1st, 3d, 7th, nth and 24th Virginia. 

Second brigade. General R. B, Garnett : regi- 
ments 8th, 1 8th, 19th, 28th and 56th Virginia. 

Third brigade, General Lewis A. Armistead : 
regiments 9th, 14th, 38th, 53d and 57th Virginia. 



166 THE STORY OF 

Fourth brigade, General M. D. Corse: regi- 
ments 15th, 17th, 29th, 30th and 32d Virginia. 

These four Virginia brigades were composed 
of the flower of the state. 

Jenkins' South, Carolina brigade — General M. 
Jenkins: regiments Palmetto sharpshooters, ist, 
2d, 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th South Carolina, and 4th 
battalion. 

To which was attached the following Virginia 
artillery: Major Bearing's 38th battalion, with 
Caskie's, Stribling's and Latham's batteries. 

Many additions were made to the ranks at 
Culpeper, greatly increasing our strength; the 
organization now being better as to numbers and 
discipline than at any previous period. The 
health of the soldiers was also much improved; 
the entire army, however, still being deficient in 
equipment, especially shoes, overcoats and 
blankets, and the chilly November winds, the 
precursor of that fearfully cold winter just ahead, 
causing suffering among the men, who bore the 
same without murmuring — such was their metal. 
The weather by this time had become quite cold, 
the men building strong fires, and to keep off the 
cold ground at night they procured, when pos- 
sible, two or three flat fence rails, placing them 
near the fire, lying down upon them. Such was 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 167 

their feather bed, covering themselves with a 
blanket if they chanced to have one. 

Here the writer was appointed Sergeant- 
Major of the regiment, succeeding Sergeant- 
Major Park, disabled in the second battle of 
Manassas — an honor as proud as anything that 
has come to him since. 

The march to Fredericksburg began Novem- 
ber 1 8, over the old plank road, passing through 
the Wilderness and Chancellorsville, soon to be 
drenched in blood in the most famous battles of 
the war — Chancellorsville, Wilderness and 
Spottsylvania. Here it may be said that in the 
County of Spottsylvania more important battles 
were fought, more blood shed and more men 
killed and wounded, and more soldiers lie buried, 
than in any other county in the United States. 
Here were fought the first and second battles of 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the two days 
Wilderness, and the series of battles in and 
around Spottsylvania court house, including 
countless skirmishes and cavalry combats. It is 
no exaggeration to say that the men killed and 
wounded in the battles, skirmishes and combats 
in the county reached 100,000. 

When we reached the vicinity of Fredericks- 
burg, snow had fallen to the depth of two inches 
or so, which had to be cleared off to find a dry 



168 THE STORY OF 

place to go to bed. Here we remained for 
twenty or more days, performing no guard duty, 
but kept busy gathering fuel to make fires to keep 
warm. Eating our rations gave us little trouble, 
not nearly so much as when or where the next 
would come from. The men smoked, some 
croaked — for it must be remarked that in the 
army there are chronic grumblers, who complain 
of short rations, continually saying the war 
would never end; others that we were going to 
be whipped in the next fight; but men of this 
class were few in number, the greater part in 
good spirits, buoyant with hope and confident of 
the final triumph of our cause. 

At early dawn, December 1 1, we stood to arms, 
continuing to do so until early Saturday morning, 
the 13th, two days and nights, then moving out 
from camp in the direction of the Rappahannock. 
The two days' suspense just alluded to proved a 
severe task on the staying powers of the strong- 
est men. Our march now continued until we 
reached a point overlooking the river valley. Al- 
though frosty, the air bracing, a dense fog 
hovered pall-like over the valley below, shutting 
off from our view the enemy, now in full force 
along the river, and the broad bottom land at 
our feet. As the sun broke away the fog, the 
movement continuing, there was heard to our 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 169 

left occasional rattle of musketry. Meeting a 
negro man loaded with blankets, canteens, haver- 
sacks and general baggage, puffing as if almost 
out of breath, with great drops of sweat as big as 
peas on his face — someone said to him : ''Hello, 
Uncle! Where are you going?" 
His answer was, "To de r'ar, Sah!" 
Then the query, "To what command do you 
belong?" 

"Barksdale's brigade, Sah." 
"Is it running, too?" 

"No, boss, it never runs, but I always do." 
By this time the fog had so lifted that we 
could see in front far to our right the gleam of 
a long line of bayonets, though we could not see 
the men who held the guns. We halted on the 
break of the heights, where we witnessed the 
combat between the Federal and Confederate 
skirmishers of Jackson's command, as well also 
as the assault by a part of the Federal line of bat- 
tle against Jackson's men, and the repulse of the 
Federals. Not being longer permitted to enjoy 
the further progress of the battle on that part of 
the field, we were now hastened down the hill 
and formed in line of battle in a wood with an 
open field in front ; the fog, however, still bothered 
in seeing the game we were watching. The 
dictates of self preservation impelled us to throw 



170 THE STORY OF 

up some rude breastworks, which would furnish 
fair protection from rifle or musket balls, but 
none from artillery fire. While in this position, 
where we remained until the middle of the after- 
noon, there could be heard the commands of the 
officers of the enemy quite as distinctly as those 
of our own. 

Many of the men without overcoats and thinly 
clad stood shivering from the cold fog, their 
beards white with frost. General Kemper came 
along and made a patriotic, soul-stirring speech, 
which had a good effect upon the men, also mak- 
ing similar speeches to other regiments of the 
brigade. 

The Confederates on the left at the foot of 
Marye's Hill being heavily pressed, our brigade 
was withdrawn and pushed acToss the hills and 
valleys to a position in rear and easy supporting 
distance of the troops holding position at the 
foot of the hill. While in this new position, the 
musket and rifle balls of the enemy flew thick 
and fast, a number being wounded, among them 
Lewis N. Wiley, of D company, one ball striking 
the writer's left foot, which had become so hard 
by going without shoes that but little injury was 
inflicted. At dark and as the last charge of the 
enemy was repulsed, our brigade moved forward, 
relieving some Georgia and North Carodina 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 171 

troops; the left of my regiment resting on the 
road leading out of Fredericksburg over the hill, 
and extending to the right on the upper side of a 
road leaving the last named road at right angles ; 
occupying the angle made by these roads, where 
we lay down on the upper side of the road on a 
wall made by a stone fence built against the foot 
of the hill, which afforded us no protection. 

The I St Virginia regiment was on our right 
and in line in the road and behind the stone fence; 
the men of our regiment, with bayonets, boards, 
sticks and tin cups, went to work to cut a trench 
on top of the wall on which it lay, and by day- 
light the next morning had made themselves 
works sufficient to protect them against minnie 
balls. 

Around us lay the Confederate dead, two dead 
Georgians lying in the midst of my company, by 
whose side the writer lay down and slept. The 
night was cool, but not cold ; there was no moon, 
but bright starlight, to which, for several hours, 
was added the Aurora borealis. About midnight 
I was aroused by Captain Bane, who said to me, 
"They are coming," and with my ear to the 
ground I could distinctly hear hoof strokes ap- 
proaching from the direction of the city. In a 
moment every man was at his post, musket in 
hand; dead stillness reigned. The mounted 
parties rode up to the intersection of the roads 



172 THE STORY OF 

and were captured by the first regiment. The 
party consisted of three Federal officers, one a 
member of General Hooker's staff. They had 
ridden forward to examine their skirmish line and 
had been allowed to pass through unchallenged, 
finding themselves in a trap. They were sent 
under guard to the provost-marshal in charge of 
an Irish sergeant and guard of the ist Virginia. 
This sergeant on his return next morning, while 
passing our company, was severely wounded by 
a Federal sharpshooter standing behind the corner 
of a brick house a hundred yards or more away. 

We had been advised on the night of the battle 
that the attack was expected to be renewed the 
next morning, in view of which we had been 
furnished with one hundred rounds of ammuni- 
tion, with instructions to hold the position at all 
hazards, that we would be supported by a line of 
battle on the hill in our rear. The attack was 
not made, though we remained in position during 
the day and night, skirmishing and sharpshooting. 
Next day after the battle, while holding the line 
in front of Fredericksburg, some of our boys 
carried water to the Federal wounded lying in 
our front, though at the risk of life. 

Amid a rainstorm on the night of the 14th, 
the enemy stole away and crossed the river. The 
battle over and the danger past, we retired to our 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 173 

camp on the hills south of Fredericksburg, where 
we remained for nearly two months, suffering 
much from cold, want of clothing and shoes; 
many of the barefooted men making and wearing 
rawhide moccasins. Frequently, to prevent suf- 
fering at night, the men made log fires and in 
evening rolled away the burning logs, cleared 
away the fire and ashes and made their sleeping 
places on the warm earth from which the fire 
had been removed. When we had snow, the men 
would fight snowball battles, in which frequently 
someone was seriously hurt. We did little 
picket or guard duty, and many engaged in card 
playing. Religious exercises were now infre- 
quent. I recall going once to divine services, 
when the Chaplain, Mr. McCarthy, preached ; and 
I remember to this good day the text which 
formed the basis of his discourse. It was from 
the 53d chapter of Isaiah, verse i : "Who hath 
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of 
the Lord revealed ?'* 

During the long, dreary, cold two months fol- 
lowing the battle of Fredericksburg, while in 
camp amid privations and suffering, the men dis- 
cussed freely the questions touching the war, its 
conduct, and prospects for peace. The soldiers 
talked gravely of these matters, discussing them 
frequently with much earnestness, not a few be- 



174 . THE STORY OF 

coming" homesick and longing for the termina- 
tion of the game of conflict and death. An ever 
abiding confidence in our cause, its justness, and 
our belief in the final triumph of right over wrong 
coupled with invincible spirits ever ready to brave 
the storm of battle, caused our sufferings and 
hardships to be treated as trivial, as compared 
with the issue at stake. The end, however, was 
not yet in sight, and little did we dream that it 
would be reached as it was ; for while it was sup- 
posed that the private soldier knew little of what 
was transpiring throughout the country — North, 
South or in Europe, yet it is a fact that the ques- 
tions of resources of the South in men and sup- 
plies; the North with its vast resources, with the 
old world to draw upon for men to fight its bat- 
tles, were frequently talked of, as well as the re- 
mote possibility of foreign intervention; its ef- 
fect upon the war; the peace feeling North, and 
its probable effect. Our confidence in the armies 
of the Confederacy, and our ability to success- 
fully resist the Federal armies with their over- 
whelming numbers was scarcely doubted. It 
was remarkable what confidence the men reposed 
in General Lee; they were ready to follow him 
wherever he might lead, or order them to go. 

In company D was one, Dan East, who was 
never in a battle, and never intended to be; yet 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 175 

Dan knew more about it than anyone who had 
gone through it ; ahvays turning up after the bat- 
tle with a full haversack, good blanket, overcoat 
and shoes. As usual, Dan walked into the camp 
after the battle of Fredericksburg, when the 
Colonel determined to punish him; he caused a 
placard with the word "Coward" in large letters 
to be fastened across his back, and with rail on his 
shoulder he was marched to and fro in froHt of 
the regiment ; but this had little effect on Dan, and 
the first opportunity he helped himself to a fel- 
low soldier's clothing and other goods, which 
were found in his quarters. The men of the 
company decided to rid the service of Dan by 
whipping him out of it, which they did. 

It was while in this camp that a rencounter 
occurred between Hight and Young, both large, 
stout, athletic men, pretty equally matched in 
size, strength and good mettle. The fight was 
as close as two brave men could make it, but 
friends intervened and the combatants were 
separated. 

Let us now return to the result of the battle of 
Fredericksburg, as far as forces engaged and 
casualties suffered are concerned. 

The Federal army in this battle numbered 
50,000; casualties, 12,653. Confederate army, 
20,000; casualties, 4201. Casualties in Kemper's 



176 THE STORY OF 

brigade, 46 ; in 7th Virginia regiment, 5 ; in Co. 
D, I ; Lewis N. Wiley, wounded — with the whack 
taken at the writer's foot, already described. 

January 20, 1863, the command was suddenly 
called to arms, marched up the Rappahannock in 
the direction of Banks' ford, where, it was re- 
ported, the Federal army was threatening to cross 
the river. We remained out one night in the 
snow, rain, mud and slush, returning to camp 
next day. 



Chapter XVI 



12 



Leaving Camp. 

March Through Spottsylvania. 

Louisa. 

Hanover, Petersburg. 

First North CaroHna Campaigb. 

Heavy Snowfall and Battle. 

Accident to Anderson Meadows Near Chester. 

Camp Near Petersburg. 

Gardner Exchanges Hats. 

Lieutenant Stone in a Box. 

To Weldon, Goldsboro and Kinston. 

At Suffolk, Virginia. Return via Petersburg, 
Chester, Richmond, to Taylorsville. 

John, the Drummer Boy. 

Professor Hughes, Frank Burrows and Others. 

Across the Pamunky, Return Taylorsville and to 
Culpeper. 



MONDAY, February i6, 1863, in the midst 
of a storm of snow and sleet, Pickett's 
division took up its line of march heading 
toward Richmond. Reports were rife relating to 
destination, some saying Charleston, others Sav- 
annah or Blackwater ; all were on the list of prob- 
abilities, the line of march being through the 
counties of Spottsylvania, Louisa and Hanover. 
At Hanover Junction Sergeant: A. L. Fry, who 
had returned from captivity, rejoined us. Within 
eight miles or so of Richmond the moving army 
went into camp, resting a few days from fatigue- 
ing march, then proceeding through Richmond 
to Chester station on the Richmond and Peters- 
burg railroad. 

The brave Lieutenant-Colonel Flowerree of the 
7th regiment, having imbibed a little freely, as 
we passed through Richmond was placed in ar- 
rest, charged with the breach of soldierly good 
conduct. He was finally restored to us on the 
return from Gettysburg; a streak of luck that 
saved the Colonel from being in the great battle. 

The day of our arrival at Chester was cool, 
the early night was clear, the sky blue, the stars 
shining — nothing that betokened any sudden 
change of weather. Awakening next morning 



180 THE STORY OF 

we found we had a blanket of snow twelve inches 
deep — the men lying in rows reminding one of a 
cemetery, and on rising, of the resurrection day. 
We soon built roaring fires and went out and 
fought a great snowball battle. The explosion of 
cartridges in a cartridge box that had been hung 
up too near the fire came near costing Anderson 
Meadows the loss of his eyes. Meadows was 
quite a remarkable man. When he went into the 
army he could neither read nor write, but during 
the service he became quite proficient in all, was 
a number one cook and a brave soldier, surviving 
the war. 

Our next move took us to a point about a mile 
southeast of Petersburg, where we went into 
camp. The weather had somewhat moderated, 
but snow still on the ground. Our Lieutenant 
Stone, who had been home on furlough, returned 
to us here. The camp was always more lively 
when he was present, for there was no fun or 
mischief started in which he did not make a full 
hand, and in the army anything that cultivates 
cheerfulness is of real value. Many of the men 
went into Petersburg, some without leave, among 
them Gardner of Company D, who, on his return, 
was discovered wearing a good looking hat in- 
stead of the old, dingy cap he had worn away. In- 
quiry being made as to how he became possessed 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 181 

of the hat, he repHed : "I swapped with a fellow 
— but he wasn't there!" 

March 25 a shift was made to the Weldon and 
Petersburg railway station, and while the train 
to carry us. south was being made ready, some 
of the men took on too many drinks, our jolly 
Lieutenant Stone being one, and becoming 
boisterous, fell into the hands of the city police. 
To keep our Lieutenant out of their clutches, the 
men of the company put him in a box car, fasten- 
ing the doors, but as he did not fancy being a 
prisoner in a box car he kicked off one of the 
doors, coming out with it, hanging as he came on 
a nail or part of the door, the leg of his trousers 
catching the same a little above the knee, tearing 
one leg of his trousers. 

Next morning found us at Weldon, where we 
remained several hours, and while here Pat 
Wood, an Irishman of the ist regiment, started 
some kind of a row, which brought General Ran- 
som, the commandant of the post, upon the scene, 
and which resulted in a peremptory order for the 
whole command to move on, which it did. 
Crowded into box cars, without fire, the weather 
cold, the result cold feet and general discomfort. 
But a soldier equal to almost any emergency, es- 
pecially where his personal safety and comfort 
are concerned, and determining to have fires, cov- 



182 THE STORY OF 

ered the floor of each car with sand. On this 
fires were made of longleaf North Carolina pine. 
The smoke was dense, and, having no escape, set- 
tled upon the men, so that when Goldsboro was 
reached that evening we were thought to belong 
to the "colored brigade.'* 

Next day we proceeded about twenty-five 
miles to Kinston, on the Neuse river, about 
thirty-five miles west from Newbern. From 
Kinston we did some scouting and picket duty 
on the roads leading to Newbern, the object 
seeming to be to keep the enemy at Newbern 
close in, while our commissariat gathered sup- 
plies, as General Longstreet with Hood's division 
was likewise doing at Suffolk, Va. The enemy 
had occupied Kinston the preceding winter, and 
many of the houses had been destroyed; the in- 
habitants had removed, either inside the Union 
military lines, or to the interior of the state. The 
village, in fact, was entirely deserted. 

Our brigade left Kinston April 9, moving by 
rail to Goldsboro and Weldon to a point twenty 
or more miles south of Petersburg, from whence 
we marched through the Blackwater region — 
the counties of Southampton, its county town 
Jerusalem, Isle of Wight — to the neighborhood 
of Suffolk in Nausemond County, where wc 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 183 

united with the division of General Hood, then 
closely investing the town. 

I will here relate two incidents occurring on 
our journey to and from Kinston. While halt- 
ing at Goldsboro, a soldier of Company F, 24th 
Virginia, named Adams, went to a pie stand kept 
by an old lady, took part of her pies and was 
walking away without paying therefor, when he 
was arrested by a town policeman, whom the 
soldier sought to resist, and in the fight Adams 
was killed. The other incident was, as we were 
being transported by the railway in box cars be- 
tween Kinston and Goldsboro, a part of the men 
were on top of the boxes, and along portions of 
the railway were overhead bridges for the ac- 
commodation of travelers on the county roads. 
One, Manly Reece of Co. G, 24th Virginia, stand- 
ing erect on one of the box cars, and not observ- 
ing an overhead bridge, was struck, knocked from 
the car and killed. 

At Suffolk lively skirmishing was kept up for 
quite a while, sometimes approaching a battle. 
While here we were formed into line of battle 
to receive the foe, but he did not come. Matters 
thus continued until we retired, as hereinafter 
related. 

From a letter I wrote to a friend dated April 
25 (the original furnished while writing these 



184 THE STORY OF 

pages), it appears we reached Suffolk the 12th 
of the month. I state in the letter : "This is the 
13th day that we have been in close proximity 
to the enemy." While at Suffolk three of my 
Company D — Hugh J. Wilburn, James H. Gard- 
ner and John S. W. French, deserted to the 
enemy. 

Having accomplished the object of the ex- 
pedition, the troops quietly withdrew from the 
front a little after dark on the evening of Mon- 
day, May 4. On reaching South Quay, we heard 
of the great Confederate victory at Chancellors- 
ville. Pushing ahead through Petersburg to 
Chester Station, we again halted there for a few 
days for rest and recuperation. While here in 
camp, Isaac Hare and Travis Burton of Com- 
pany D took "French furlough" and joined 
themselves to a portion of the Confederate army 
serving in southwestern Virginia. The cause of 
this action was never explained. 

Baldwin L. Hoge, in handling a knife, acci- 
dentally wounded himself in the knee, was sent 
to the hospital, and was not able for field service 
for several months. 

It was here also that the men of the divisions 
of Pickett and Hood heard with sorrow of the 
death of General Stonewall Jackson, an irrepara- 
ble loss ; for his place could not well be filled, and 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 185 

it seemed that with his loss our cause began to 
wane. The humblest private in all the armies 
of the South deeply mourned the loss of this 
Christian man and able general. 

Hood's Texans were encamped across the rail- 
road from us, amusing themselves by putting 
musket caps on the rails just in advance of the 
approach of a passenger train, then taking their 
stand close beside the track, bushes or brush in 
hand. On the caps exploding, the passengers 
would put their heads out of the windows to iJS- 
certain the cause of the popping, and found on 
drawing their heads back into the coach that they 
were hatless — a slick trick of the soldiers to get 
for themselves a supply of hats. 

Resuming the line of march May 12, we passed 
through Richmond to Taylorsville in Hanover 
County, not far from the Junction, the crossing 
of the Virginia Central over the Richmond, 
Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad. 

A series of religious meetings were here held 
and many professed faith in Christ, the writer 
among the number. From a letter to a friend at 
home, dated at Taylorsville, May 26, I see that I 
stated: "We are now resting from our hard 
marches, which, however, may be resumed at any 
time. There is a religious meeting going on here 
now. Rev. Dr. Pryor of Petersburg is preaching 



186 THE STORY OF 

for us. I think he will be able to do great g-ood. 
Nearly every man in the brigade seems to take an 
interest in the meetings. I hope that much good 
may be done. Our soldiers are loyal to their 
country, and Oh! how grand if they would only 
be loyal to God." 

In the interim of our arrival at Taylorsville 
and leaving there, the division took a journey 
across the Pamunkey into King and Queen 
County, returning to Taylorsville. A few days 
thereafter we had division review, being drawn up 
in line to receive General Pickett, to whom, as he 
passed by, we were to lower the flags and present 
arms, the drums to beat. John Whitlock was the 
drummer boy for our regiment, a little waif 
picked up in Richmond by some one of our regi- 
mental band or drum corps, of which Professor 
Hughes was leader, with Frank Burrows and 
others members of the band. John Whitlock was 
a mischievous boy, who, to keep from beating 
the drum, would lose or throw away the sticks; 
so when on this review he was ordered by the 
Colonel to beat the drum, there was no response, 
on account of which, on return to camp, I was 
ordered to place on John a drum shirt, which 
consisted of taking the heads out of the drum 
and slipping the barrel down over his arms. John 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 187 

cried and begged, and I let him go upon his 
promise to do better in the future. 

At Taylorsville Pickett's division, fully 
equipped, was made ready for the most active 
field service. The ranks were recuperated by 
those who had been sick, those recovered from 
wounds, as well as by recruits, and all vacancies 
in the officers of the line and staff, among them 
Captain John H. Parr, who had been appointed 
Adjutant to fill the vacancy occasioned by the 
death of Adjutant Starke, killed in the battle of 
Frazier's Farm. Company D had lost up to this 
time, killed in battle, died of wounds, disease, 
transfers to other commands, detached service 
and desertion, nearly 70 men; had received no 
recruits except those received in August, 1861, 
and some were sick and in hospital. 

It is probable we left Taylorsville for Culpeper 
June 3, as I see from a letter written by me on 
the nth of June from a point about eight miles 
from Culpeper court house, that I say : "We have 
been marching for the last eight days, have now 
halted eight miles from Culpeper court house. Our 
cavalry had a severe fight with the enemy day 
before yesterday. I think we are to have a hard 
summer's campaign. It is reported that the 
Yankees have moved back to Manassas and Bull 
Run. There has been some fighting at Fredericks- 



188 THE STORY OF 

burg, where some of the enemy have crossed and 
are throwing up fortifications." i 

It was our custom to call the enemy Yankees; 
some said "D — d Yankees," and they likewise 
called us '*D — d rebels," neither side meaning 
any offense, nor the expression carrying any per- 
sonal ill will. It is told by General Sherman in 
his Atlanta, or some other campaign, that he 
heard an old negro praying, saying among other 
things, "Oh ! Lord, bless the d — d Yankees." We 
used the word Yankee, prior to the war, applying 
it to the New England people, the descendants 
of the Puritans, the people whose ancestors 
landed on Plymouth Rock, of whom General Early 
is credited with saying, "If that rock had landed 
on them, we would never have had the d — d h — 1 
fired war." The word Yankee is of uncertain 
derivation,, though said to be an Indian corrup- 
tion of the French word, Anglais, meaning Eng- 
lish. The Union soldiers usually called us 
"Johnnies," or "Johnny Rebs." 

The army had been organized with three 
corps — first, Longstreet's ; second, Ewell's, and 
third, A. P. Hill's. While at Culpeper, where 
the Confederate army was being mobilized, addi- 
tional numbers were being received into the ranks. 
The passionate ardor of our people for their coun- 
try's cause had brought to the army nearly every 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 189 

man fit for the service. It was perhaps the larg- 
est efficient number of men, and composed of 
the best fighting material that General Lee ever 
led to battle. Most of the men were well inured 
to the service, and well prepared to undergo the 
greatest privations and hardships; and by this 
time most of the cowards and skulkers had either 
gotten out of the army or had never gotten in, 
or gone over to the enemy. In these men Gen- 
eral Lee imposed the utmost confidence, and this 
confidence was reciprocated. It is stated upon 
authority that as the army went forward on its 
march to Pennsylvania, while passing through 
the valley of Virginia not far from Berryville, 
near which General Lee had stopped and dined 
with a friend, that in the act of mounting his 
horse to depart, his host remarked: "I have 
never had any confidence in the success of our 
cause till now I see our army marching north." 
Promptly came General Lee's only reply: 
''Doctor, there marches the finest body of men 
that ever tramped the earth." 

The usual order to cook rations and prepare 
to move at a moment's notice was given, and 
everything was put in readiness ; the camp was all 
bustle and confusion. 



Chapter XVII 



Pennsylvania Campaign of July, 1863. 

Culpeper and Snicker's Gap. 

Fording the Potomac. 

Shooting a Deserter. 

Pennsylvania Invaded. 

Chambersburg. 

My Dream. 

Willoughby Run. 

Roll Call. 



I AM NOW about to record the things I saw 
in connection with the greatest endeavor of 
the Army of Northern Virginia during the 
Civil War, which led up to the Battle of Gettys- 
burg, a campaign which startled the North, 
alarmed the capital at Washington, and inspired 
General Lee's army with new heroism and 
courage. We were going to Pennsylvania in part 
to procure that for which Jacob's sons went down 
into Egypt. 

Monday, June 15, 1863, the head of the column 
moved out, directed toward the Blue Ridge and 
Snicker's Gap, through which we passed June 20, 
crossing the Shenandoah River at Castleman's 
ferry, where we were detained three or four days, 
and again at Berryville, for the purpose of keep- 
ing in supporting distance of our cavalry operat- 
ing against that of the enemy east of the Ridge. 
The march from Culpeper was conducted left in 
front, the enemy being on our right. The Con- 
federate cavalry had for several days been en- 
gaged with that of the enemy in the vicinity of 
Aldie and Upperville. The army was followed 
by a large drove of beef cattle, James B. Croy, 
of Company D, being detailed as one of the driv- 
ers, thereby escaping the storm at Gettysburg. 



194 THE STORY OF 

The way for the march of the army through 
the Virginia valley had been cleared by Ewell's 
corps, which had defeated and driven away the 
Federal troops at Winchester and Martinsburg; 
while the Confederate cavalry had cut and de- 
stroyed a portion of the Baltimore & Ohio rail- 
road west of Harper's Ferry, and Jenkins' Con- 
federate cavalry brigade had crossed the Potomac, 
entering Maryland and Pennsylvania. The 
weather was hot and the march continued through 
Martinsburg by Falling Waters, crossing the 
Potomac by wading to Williamsport, Md., going 
into camp a short distance out of the town. Here 
it was late in the evening that a deserter from 
the 1 8th Virginia regiment was executed by 
shooting. 

The morale of the army was superb, officers 
and men alike inspired with confidence in the 
ability of the army to beat its old antagonist any- 
where he chose to meet us. We were moving 
into the enemy's country in fine spirit — no strag- 
gling, no desertion, no destruction of private 
property, no outrages committed upon non-com- 
batants, the orders of the commanding general 
on this subject being strictly observed. Among 
the men were expressions of disapproval of the 
invasion of the North. We had uniformly in- 
sisted upon defensive warfare on our own soil; 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 195 

in other words, we steadfastly contended against 
the claim of the enemy to invade our own land, 
and logically we should be bound by the same 
reasoning. However, in the last analysis every 
man in the army of Northern Virginia was loyal 
to his commander-in-chief, wherever he should 
lead. Here, indeed, was a spectacle: An army 
of more than sixty thousand freemen, every man 
a soldier in the true sense of the word, brave, 
resolute, fearless, the heroes and victors of many 
fields, marching unobstructed and thus far un- 
opposed through an enemy's country, whose peo- 
ple had scarcely known that war was in progress ; 
living in quiet and plenty. The march was con- 
tinued with steady tread to Hagerstown, where 
a halt was made to allow Hill's corps, which had 
crossed the river below, to pass. Again march- 
ing, the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania was 
entered, a magnificent land, the counterpart of 
the lovely valley of Virginia, the sight bringing 
homesickness to the heart of not a few Virginia 
boys. Nothing was seen indicating that these 
people knew that a terrible war had been raging 
for two years, only a few miles away; certain 
it is they had felt little of its effect, either upon 
their population or resources. At Greencastle was 
noted among the people defiance and vindictive 
mien; while not speaking out, their looks indi- 



196 THE STORY OF 

cated that deep down in their bosoms was rancor 
and the wish that all the rebel hosts were dead and 
corralled by the devil. 

Saturday, June 2y, Chambersburg-, the cap- 
ital — county town — of Franklin County, was en- 
tered by our column; passing to the outskirts on 
the north, or northwest side thereof, halting in 
the street in front of a beautiful residence, said 
to be that of Colonel McClure. Some ladies ap- 
peared and volunteered to deliver a sharp, spicy 
address, which was resp>onded to by the band of 
our regiment, with "Dixie." The boys sang 
"Dixie" and "Bonnie Blue Flag," laughed and 
cheered lustily, then marched on a few miles on 
the York road and went into camp. 

Pickett's division was left at Chambersburg to 
guard the trains until General Imboden's com- 
mand could close up and relieve it, which it did on 
the evening of July i. While waiting to- be re- 
lieved, the men of Pickett's division were em- 
ployed in tearing up the track of the Cumberland 
Valley railroad, which was thoroughly done for 
a mile or more, piling and firing the ties, heating 
the rails and bending them around trees. 

During the march from the Potomac to 
Chambersburg, I one night had a dream in which 
I saw my left shoulder mangled by a cannon shot 
and I lying on the battlefield bleeding, dying. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 197 

This dream, not like many not recollected, deeply 
impressed itself upon my mind, and I found my- 
self unable to throw it off. When three days 
later in the battle at Gettysburg I was struck by 
an exploding shell on my left side, the dream 
instantly came up, and I said, here now is its ful- 
fillment. Other soldiers, like myself, probably 
during and after the war dreamed of being in 
battle, hearing distinctly the booming of cannon, 
the noise of bursting shell and the rattle of 
musketry. 

About 2 o'clock on Thursday morning, July 2, 
being aroused by the sound of the long roll, we 
were quickly in line, the column moving on the 
road leading to Gettysburg. The march was 
rapid, and unceasing, until we reached the vicin- 
ity of the coming conflict at Gettysburg, a distance 
of twenty-five miles or more over a dusty road, 
beneath a burning July sun, passing on the way 
the smoldering ruins of Thad Stevens' iron fur- 
nace, which had been fired by General J. A. Early 
a few days before. The other divisions of our 
corps (Longstreet's) had preceded us some 
twenty-four hours, arriving in time to make the 
principal battle of the second day. 

On the march over South Mountain, reaching 
the east side, passing through the small hamlets 
of Cashtown and Seven Stars, plainly could be 



198 THE STORY OF 

heard the roar of Longstreet's battle of that eve- 
ning. Near the middle of the afternoon the divi- 
sion halted at Willoughby Run, two miles from 
Gettysburg ; the men soon scattered, some getting 
water, some eating and some in conversation. As 
the shades of night began to gather on this bright 
eve, being fatigued with the day's march, all re- 
tired early to rest, little dreaming that upon such 
lovely eve, such awful morn should rise. Brave, 
happy souls, little do you anticipate the horrors 
of the next twenty- four hours! All was quiet 
during the night until reveille, which was sounded 
before day, when we fell into ranks for roll call, 
the last for so many gallant men, who on this 
eventful day were to pour out their life's blood 
for freedom and the right, as God gave them to 
see the right, and to go to that bourne from 
whence no traveler returns. 



Chapter XVIII 



Finishing Roll Call. 
March to the Field. 
Inspection of Arms. 
Fearful Artillery Duel. 
The Charge. 
Killed and Wounded. 
Army Retires. 
Crosses the Potomac. 



PROCEEDING with the roll call, the officers 
and men of Company D were: Captain 
R. H. Bane, Lieutenants E. M. Stone, John 
W. Mullins and E. R. Walker; non-commissioned, 
Sergeants T. S. Taylor, W. H. H. Snidow, the 
writer; Corporals A. J. Thompson, Daniel Bish, 
George C. Mullins, J. B. Young; Privates Akers, 
Barrett, Crawford. Darr, Fortner (J. H.), Fort- 
ner (W. C), Hight, Hurt (J. J.), Jones, Lewy 
(Jo), Meadows (Anderson), Meadows (John), 
Minnich, Munsey, Peters, Sarver (D. L.), Sub- 
lett, Stafford, Wilburn (G. L.) and Wilburn 
(W. I.). Total, 31, being all of Company D 
present that I recall. I believe this to be correct. 
James B. Croy had been detailed to drive beef 
cattle; Alexander Bolton belonged to the ambu- 
lance corps, and Charles A. Hale was company 
cook. During the terrific artillery duel, whicn 
followed. Captain Bane and Lieutenant Mullins 
were prostrated by heat, from which they did not 
recover for some days. Lieutenant Stone had 
been assigned to the command of Company E 
of the regiment, which had no commissioned of- 
ficer present. Lieutenant Walker was left in 
command of our company, and just as the artil- 
lery duel was about closing, and but a few min- 



202 THE STORY OF 

utes before the general advance began, I was 
knocked out of ranks by a bursting shell, of which 
more later. The company therefore went into the 
charge with but 28 men, counting Lieutenant 
Stone leading Company E, and Young, color 
guard. The three brigades of Pickett's division 
present were Garnett's, Kemper's and Armistead's, 
composed of fifteen Virginia regiments, number- 
ing in the aggregate that morning about 4,700 
men, which included the General's staff, and regi- 
mental officers, of which there was the full com- 
plement; Colonel W. Tazw^ell Patton, command- 
ing the 7th Virginia regiment, being the only 
field officer of the regiment then present. The 
division, from the major-general dowm, was com- 
posed of Virginians, many of them mere boys, 
and the probability is that the average age of 
the men in the ranks, including the line officers, 
did not exceed 19 years. I had just passed my 
eighteenth birthday. In the division were com- 
panies from the counties of Bedford, Campbell, 
Franklin, Patrick, Henry, Floyd, Montgomery, 
Pulaski^ Giles, Craig, Mercer, Madison, Orange, 
Culpeper, Rappahannock, Greene, Albemarle, Car- 
roll, Appomattox, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, 
Norfolk, Nansemond, and others; and from the 
cities of Richmond, Lynchburg, Norfolk and 
Portsmouth — volunteers all, many of them school 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 203 

boys who had entered the service at the commence- 
ment of thei war, and becoming fully inured to 
the service. 

Our brigade, commanded by the gallant and 
impetuous General James L. Kemper, was in front 
during the morning's march, and as* we formed 
into battle line held the right, Garnett's brigade 
on the left, Armistead's a little to the left and 
rear. The line was formed as early as 7 o'clock 
A. M. Inspection of arms was had and every- 
thing put in readiness for the engagement then 
imminent. We moved out of a skirt of woods, 
went forward a short distance into a field, on 
which was standing a crop of rye not yet har- 
vested. Our position was now on Seminary 
Ridge, four hundred yards or so back from the 
top, under the crest; the line formed somewhat 
obliquely to the Emmettsburg road in front of 
us, with the Confederate batteries on the crest 
four hundred yards or more in front of us. 
Pickett's division was to lead the assault, the 
wings supported on the right by Wilcox's brigade, 
Heth's division under General Pettigrew, sup- 
ported by the brigades of Scales and Lane, under 
General Trimble, for the purpose of supporting 
the left: all obstructions cleared away from the 
immediate front. 

In the formation thus made, arms were stacked 



204 THE STORY OF 

and we, with the understanding that when two 
signal guns were fired, to take arms and lie flat 
on the ground. All along the Confederate front 
was massed our artillery, perhaps 75 or more 
guns. The Federal artillery, 220 guns, along 
their whole front. The lines of the two armies, 
now held as by a leash, were 1,430 yards from 
each other, the distance between the opposing 
batteries an average of a little more than 1,000 
yards. The Federal guns exceeded ours in num- 
ber and quality of metal. 

Now the suspense was something awful. The 
men were grave and thoughtful, but showed no 
signs of fear. The multitude awaiting judgment 
could not be more seriously impressed with what 
was now about to follow. However, a soldier in 
the field rarely thought his time to die had exactly 
arrived — that is, it would be the other fellow's 
time — and well it was so. Occasionally a man 
was met who had made up his mind that the next 
battle would be his last. Men have been known 
to have such presentiment and sure enough be 
killed in the next engagement. Such was true 
of our gallant Colonel Patton, who yielded up his 
promising young life in this battle. 

The issue of the campaign and of the Civil War 
itself, as history shows, was now trembling in 
the balance. Victory or defeat to either side 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 205 

would be in effect a settlement of the issues in- 
volved; this the officers and men seemed clearly 
to realize. Under such conditions all were im- 
patient of the restraint. To the brave soldier 
going into battle, knowing he must go, the mo- 
ments seem to lengthen. This feeling is not born 
of his love for fighting, but it is rather the nerv- 
ous anxiety to determine the momentous issue 
as quickly as possible, without stopping to count 
the cost, realizing if it must be done, "it were 
well it were done quickly." Over-confidence per- 
vaded the Confederate army, from the command- 
ing general down to the shakiest private in the 
ranks. Too much over-confidence was the bane 
of our battle. For more than six long hours the 
men were waiting, listening for the sound of the 
signal guns. The stillness was at last broken : 
the shot was fired : down, according to program, 
went the men on their faces. 

Now began the most terrible artillery duel that 
beyond question ever took place on the American 
continent, or, the writer believes, anywhere else. 
Never had a storm so dreadful burst upon mortal 
man. The atmosphere was rent and broken by 
the rush and crash of projectiles — solid shot, 
shrieking, bursting shells. The sun but a few 
minutes before so brilliant was now darkened. 
Through this smoky darkness came the missiles 



206 THE STORY OF 

of death, plowing great furrows of destruction 
among our men, whole columns going down like 
grass before the scythe. The scene of carnage 
and death beggars description. Not for the 
world would the writer look upon such a sight 
again. In any direction might be seen guns, 
swords, haversacks, heads, limbs, flesh and bones 
in confusion or dangling in the air or bounding 
on the earth. The ground shook as if in the 
throes of an earthquake. The teamsters, two or 
more miles away, declared that the sash in the 
windows of buildings where they were shook and 
chattered as if shaken by a violent wind. Over 
us, in front, behind, in our midst, through our 
ranks and everywhere, came death-dealing mis- 
siles. I am reminded by this awful scene, pro- 
duced by this fearful artillery fire, of the remark 
made by Colonel Stephen D. Lee, commanding 
Confederate artillery at Sharpsburg, to one of his 
artillery officers after the battle: "Sharpsburg 
was artillery hell." Be this as it may, the artil- 
lery fire at Sharpsburg was not comparable to 
that of the third day at Gettysburg. During all 
this nearly two hours of horror the men remained 
steadfast at their posts — excepting those who had 
not been knocked out of place by shell and shot. 

It must not be supposed that men were not 
alarmed, for doubtless many a poor fellow 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 207 

thought his time had come — and pray? Yes, 
great big, stout-hearted men prayed, loudly, too, 
and they were in earnest, for if men ever had need 
of the care and protection of our Heavenly 
Father, it was now. 

The position was a trying one, indeed; much 
more so than had we been engaged in close com- 
bat, and quite as perilous, for then we should not 
have felt so much the terrible strain, could we 
have rendered blow for blow; but it was as if 
we were placed where we were for target practice 
for the Union batteries. To the left of my posi- 
tion, and not thirty feet away, eight men were 
killed or wounded by one shot, while still nearer 
to me a solid shot trounced a man, lifting him 
three feet from the earth, killing him but not 
striking him. Many of the shots causing much 
damage were from enfilading fire from a Union 
battery at the Cemetery. 

I feel confident in stating that not less than 300 
of Pickett's men were killed or injured by artil- 
lery fire. 

Near 2 :50 P. M., as the artillery fire had prac- 
tically ceased, there came the order, "Fall in!" 
and brave General Pickett, coming close by where 
I lay wounded, called out: "Up, men, and to 
your posts! Don't forget today that you are 
from old Virginia!" The effect of this word 



208 THE STORY OF 

upon the men was electrical. The regiments were 
quickly in line, closing to the left over the dead 
and wounded — the ranks now reduced by the 
losses occasioned by the shelling to about 4,400 
men of the division, and I am satisfied that Kem- 
per's brigade, the smallest of the division, did not 
then number over 1,250. The advance now be- 
gan, the men calling out to the wounded and 
others: "Goodbye, boys! Goodbye!" Unable 
to move, I could not accompany this advance — 
did not see, hear, observe or know what there- 
after happened only from the statement of others. 
I will not attempt to state, but for a reasonable 
and fair report thereof will give the published 
statement of an intelligent Union soldier (a Mas- 
sachusets man) who observed the movement of 
Pickett's division, which is as follows : 

"But what is Gettysburg, either in its 
first day's Federal defeat, or its second day's 
terrible slaughter around Little Round Top, 
without the third day's immortal charge by 
Pickett and his brave Virginians l * * * 
Then Pickett and his brave legions stood 
up and formed for the death struggle : three 
remnants of brigades, consisting of Gar- 
nett's — the 8th, i8th, 19th, 28th and 56th 
Virginia; Armistead's brigade — ^the 9th, 
14th, 38th, 53d, 57th Virginia; Kemper's 




Corporal Jesse B. Young 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 209 

brigade— 1st, 3d, 7th, nth, 24th Virginia. 
Their tattered flags bore the scars of ,a score 
of battles, and from their ranks the merci- 
less bullet had already taken two-thirds 
their number. In compact ranks : their front 
scarcely covering two of Hancock's brigades, 
with flags waiving as if for a gala day. 
* * * It was nearly a mile to the Union 
lines, and as they advanced over the open 
plain the Federal artillery opened again, 
plowing great lanes through their solid 
ranks, but they closed up to guide center, 
as if upon dress parade. When half way 
over, Pickett halted his division amidst a 
terrible fire of shot and shell, and changed 
his direction by an oblique movement, 
coolly and beautifully made. * * * Xo 
those who have ever faced artillery fire it 
is marvellous and unexplainable how human 
beings could have advanced under the ter- 
rific fire of a hundred cannon, every inch 
of air being laden with the missiles of death ; 
but in splendid formation they still came 
bravely on till within range of the musketry ; 
then the blue line of Hancock's corps arose 
and poured into their ranks a murderous 
fire. With a wild yell the rebels^ pushed-on, 



210 THE STORY OF 

unfalteringly, crossed the Federal lines and 
laid hands upon eleven cannon. 

"Men fired into each other's faces; there 
were bayonet thrusts, cutting with sabres, 
hand-to-hand contests, oaths, curses, yells 
and hurrahs. The Second corps fell back 
behind the guns to allow the use of grape 
and double cannister, and as it tore through 
the rebel ranks at only a few paces distant, 
the dead and wounded were piled in ghastly 
heaps; still on they came up to the very 
muzzles of their guns; they were blown 
away from the cannon's mouth, but yet they 
did not waiver. Pickett had taken the key 
to the position, and the glad shout of victory 
was heard, as, the very impersonation of a 
soldier, he still forced his troops to the crest 
of Cemetery Ridge. Kemper and Armistead 
broke through Hancock's line, scaled the 
hill and planted their flags on its crest. 
Just before Armistead was shot, he placed 
his flag upon a captured cannon and cried: 
'Give them the cold steel, boys!' But valor 
could do no more, the handful of braves 
had won immortality, but could not conquer 
an army. * * * Pickett, seeing his 
supports gone, his Generals Kemper, Armis- 
tead and Garnett killed or wounded, every 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 211 

field officer of three brigades gone, three- 
fourths of his men killed or captured, him- 
self untouched, but broken-hearted, gave the 
order for retreat, but, band of heroes as they 
were, they fled not; but amidst that still 
continuous, terrible fire, they slowly, sul- 
lenly, recrossed the plain — all that was left 
of them, but few of five thousand." 
Pickett's division was the only organized body 
of Confederates that crossed the stone fence. In 
a letter of General Kemper to me he gives a short 
description, and but brief, of this wonderful 
charge, in which he states: "I think General 
Garnett and myself were the only officers of 
Pickett's division who went into the battle 
mounted and remained mounted until shot down. 
My recollection is that I fell just about the time 
our men began to give back. I was close enough 
to the enemy to distinguish features and expres- 
sions of faces, and thought I observed and could 
identify the individual who shot me. Quickly 
afterwards a Federal officer, with several of his 
men, took possession of me, placing me on a 
blanket, started to carry me, as he said, to a Fed- 
eral surgeon, when some of our men, firing over 
my body, recaptured me and carried me to our 
rear. 

"As to how the three brigades of our division 



212 THE STORY OF 

advanced in line of battle whien the artillery 
ceased firing; as to how the gaps were closed up 
as men fell and the general alignment was well 
preserved; as to the cul-de-sac of death, our un- 
supported, or very badly supported division was 
hurled into ; as to the last unavailing grapple with 
the overwhelming numbers of the enemy: all 
these are matters about which you doubtless know 
as much as I do." 

As already stated, it was 1,430 yards from our 
position to that occupied by the Union infantry; 
it was practically open field. It was the longest 
charge in open ground under heavy fire that our 
troops were ever required to make. Indeed, this 
was the most remarkable charge made in the 
annals of warfare. 

The Union army, under General Burnside, at 
the Battle of Fredericksburg against Marye's Hill, 
made as many as fourteen distinct charges as 
brave and gallant as were ever made by any sol- 
diers, at some points leaving their dead within a 
few yards of the Confederate lines, but each time 
repulsed with heavy loss, but the fact must not 
be overlooked that these charging columns had 
fairly good] cover to within four hundred yards 
of the Confederate line. 

Had the Confederate assaulting column had a 
shorter run with protected cover, it is almost cer- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 213 

tain that the Union Hnes would have been broken, 
the Federal army cut in twain, forced to rapid 
retreat to avoid capture or destruction. Again, 
it is manifest that had the Federal army been 
in the open on the third day as on the first and 
for most part on the second day. General Meade's 
Union army would have been crushed. As it was, 
in a well-protected position, and the battle well 
conducted by General Meade, he barely escaped 
defeat — too badly crippled to promptly pursue the 
Confederates. 

General Meade was a good soldier, and the 
Union army of the Potomac made a splendid 
fight. No doubt General Meade and the Army 
of the Potomac were proud of their achievement 
at Gettysburg, for they had been hammered so 
much and so often by the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia that they doubtless expected the same old 
bill of fare. A little relief was comforting; the 
other fellows were now sore, for Gettysburg battle 
was a sad and gloomy one for the Army of North- 
ern Virginia and the Confederacy, but the sur- 
vivors had not lost their old-time spirit ; they soon 
recuperated, and were themselves again ready for 
the fray. 

In the battles from the Rapidan to the James 
in the Spring and Summer of 1864, the soldiers 
of the Army of Northern Virginia showed that 



214 THE STORY OF 

they had not lost their old-time spirit, pluck, and 
fighting qualities, and if the more than twenty 
thousand men lost by General Lee at Gettysburg 
had been with him in the Wilderness, in the 
Spring of 1864, General Grant would not have 
reached the James by that route. At Gettysburg 
General Meade had about 105,000 men; General 
Lee about 62,000. These figures are given by 
Colonel Taylor, a member of General Lee's staff, 
and adjutant-general of the army, taken, as he 
states, from the official records. General Meade 
himself states his strength not less than 95,000 
men. The Federal loss was 23,049 ; Confederate, 
20,451. 

The loss in Pickett's division was 2,888; in 
Kemper's brigade, 58 killed, 356 wounded and 
317 captured. In the 7th Virginia regiment the 
loss was dj. In Company D, David C. Akers, 
Daniel Bish, Jesse Barrett and John P. Sublett 
were killed ; Lieutenant E. R. Walker and E. M. 
Stone, Sergeant Taylor and myself, Corporal 
Young, Privates William C. Fortner, James H. 
Fortner, J. J. Hurt, John F. Jones (leg ampu- 
tated), John Meadows, W. W. Muncey and D. 
L. Sarver, wounded, and John W. Hight cap- 
tured ; total 1 7 — over sixty per cent of the number 
led into action. By this statement it will be seen 
that my Company D came out of the Battle of 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 215 

Gettysburg* with but ii men. J. B. Young be- 
longed to the color guard of the 7th regiment. 
The color bearer, Lieutenant Watson, with his 
guards, eight sergeants and corporals going into 
the battle were all either killed or wounded. Our 
colors fell into the hands of the 82d New York 
infantry, commanded by Captain John Darrow. 
Corporal Young was the eighth man who had 
the colors during the fight, carrying them within 
a few feet of the enemy's line behind the stone 
fence, where he was wounded and captured. The 

colors were then taken by Tolbert, a mere 

boy of ours, who bore them forward to the stone 
fence, where he intended to plant them, but was 
shot in the head. The colors were then grabbed 
by the man who fired the shot and carried back 
into the Union lines. 

The loss in officers in Pickett's division was 
something fearful to contemplate. General Gar- 
nett was killed, Armistead mortally and Kemper 
dangerously wounded. Of the whole complement 
of generals and field officers, aggregating about 
48, only one lieutenant-colonel was left. The 
division was nearly annihilated. General Kem- 
per fell into the enemy's hands in field hospital 
the second day after he was wounded. So bad 
was his wound, and he was believed to be so near 
death, that a coffin was prepared for him, which 



216 THE STORY OF 

he refused to use. He survived, and afterwards 
became Governor of Virginia, serving" with dis- 
tinction and much honor from his countrymen. 
During his gubernatorial term he carried in his 
hip a leaden bullet of standard weight and size. 

Of the wounded in Company D, Lieutenant 
Stone, Corporal Young, Privates William C. 
Fortner, James H. Fortner, Jones, Hurt and the 
writer fell into the hands of the enemy; Stone, 
Young, William C. Fortner, Jones and Hurt on 
the field; James H. Fortner and the writer the 
second day thereafter in the field hospital. Sev- 
eral of the men of Company D in the charge went 
over the stone wall, only a few getting back, 
among them Sergeant Taylor, and he wounded. 
Thomas N. Mustain, a valiant soldier, trans- 
ferred from Company D to the 57th Virginia 
regiment, went over the stone wall, and while 
lying under the captured Union batteries was 
severely wounded in the neck. 

Company E of the 7th regiment had four men 
— Alec Legg, John Canady, Willis Welch and 
Joseph Welch — Skilled during the artillery duel 
by the explosion of a shell. The company car- 
ried into the charge but one officer, Lieutenant 
Stone, and seventeen men, all of whom except one 
man were killed, wounded or captured. 

Recurring to the wounding of myself at the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 217 

closing of the artillery duel, I was at my post on 
the left of the regiment, which threw me under 
the shade of a friendly apple tree which chanced 
to stand there. I lay down near Colonel Mayo, 
of the 3d regiment, and Colonel Patton of the 
7th, near the feet of the latter. A little before 
the artillery fire ceased, a Union battery at the 
Cemetery on our left front had on us an enfilading 
fire with accurate range, which threw shell and 
solid shot into our ranks. A shell from this bat- 
tery struck the heads of two men of the 3d regi- 
ment, taking them off above the ears, exploding 
almost on me, not only killing the two men and 
wounding me, but also wounding Lieutenant 
Brown of the 7th regiment, and another, who lay 
close on my right. Just a moment before this 
shell came, I had raised my head up to get, if 
possible, a breath of fresh air, whereupon Lieu- 
tenant Brown said to me: "You had better put 
your head down or you may get it knocked off." 
I replied: "A man had about as well die that 
way as to suffocate for want of air." The words 
had scarcely escaped my lips when the shell ex- 
ploded, which for a few moments deprived me 
of my breath and sensibility ; I found myself lying 
off from the position I was in when struck, gasp- 
ing for breath. My ribs on left side were broken, 
some fractured, left lung badly contused, and 



218 THE STORY OF 

left limbs and side paralyzed. My Colonel Pat- 
ton, sprang to his feet inquiring- if I was badly 
hurt. I asked for water, the first thing a wounded 
man wants, and the Colonel had it brought to me. 
The marvel is that I escaped the explosion of that 
shell without being torn to shreds. Harry Snidow 
and another of my old company brought a 
blanket, placing it at the base of the apple tree, 
where they set me up against the tree. Just then 
the order came for the men to fall in for the 
charge, which has already been described. 
Colonel Mayo, after the war, describing this 
day's battle and the part taken by our division, 
refers to me as "one left for dead under that 
apple tree." I still live, while the brave and good 
Colonel has passed to the Great Beyond. 

In a few minutes after the men moved forward, 
the ''litter bearers" picked me up and bore me 
back into the woods to our field hospital, where 
our surgeons, Drs. Oliver and Worthington, did 
for me all in their power. About dark I was 
removed by ambulance to the shed of a farmer's 
barn, a mile or more away, on Willoughby Run, 
to the place where General Kemper had been re- 
moved, the farmer placing him in his dwelling 
house. I visited this same house twenty-two years 
later, where I saw distinctly the stains of Gen- 
eral Kemper's blood on the floor. The shed in 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 219 

which I was placed was filled with the wounded 
and dying". Throughout that long night and until 
a little before dawn, I spoke to no one, and no 
one to me, never closed my eyes in sleep ; the sur- 
geons close by being engaged in removing the 
limbs of those necessary to be amputated, and 
all night long I heard nothing but the cries of 
the wounded and the groans of the dying, the 
agonies of General Kemper, who lay near by, 
being frequently heard. Everything in the barn 
was dark, but near dawn I discovered a flicker- 
ing light advancing toward me: it was borne by 
John W. Grubb, of our regiment, who had been 
sent by our surgeon to look after me. Comrade 
Grubb was very kind to me, preparing for me a 
day or two later a bed and shelter in the orchard, 
to which I was removed, but he was taken away 
a prisoner by the Federals. 

During the morning of Sunday many of our 
wounded men were brought in, among them Cap- 
tain John H. Parr, adjutant of the 7th regiment, 
and Lieutenant Lewis Bane of the 24th regiment. 
Some of these wounded men died during the day. 

During Sunday night and the following day 
the Confederate army was withdrawing from the 
field. Our brigade surgeon. Dr. Morton, and 
General Early made visits to the field hospital, 
urging all the men able to ride in wagons to go, 



220 THE STORY OF 

of which a goodly number availed themselves. 
Shortly after the Confederate rear guard had 
passed the field hospital where I was, the Fed- 
eral advance guard appeared, the Federal sur- 
geons taking charge of us. 

Lee's army continued the retreat into Virginia, 
and I did not join my command for service for 
four months after, at Taylorsville. 



Chapter XIX 



Sketches and Incidents While a Wounded 
Prisoner. 

How Long in the Field Hospital. 

The Walk to Gettysburg and Kindness Shown 
Me by a Federal Captain. 

In Box Cars and Ride to Baltimore. 

What Occurred in Baltimore. 

To Chester, Pa. 

Dr. Schafer and Another. 

Paroled and Back to Dixie. 



THE Federal surgeon who took charge of us 
in the field hospital at Gettysburg made an 
examination of my wound and gave in- 
structions that I should receive no solid food, but 
be fed lemonade and spirits. Up to this time and 
for days subsequent I wanted no food, having 
no desire for it. A Union soldier from Ohio was 
my nurse, who treated me with kindness. This 
soldier would get the daily Philadelphia news- 
papers and read to me the war news. Among 
other things, that Lee's army, badly broken, was 
making rapid retreat for Virginia; that the loyal 
Potomac was at high tide, could not be crossed; 
that General Meade's army was pushing the Con- 
federates, would soon be up with them; then the 
following day he read that Lee's army was around 
Williamsport, could not get away; that Meade's 
army was now up and preparing for attack, only 
waiting the arrival of food supplies and ammuni- 
tion. When receiving these papers and reading 
to me, the soldier's face was all aglow with joy- 
ous expression, to which he gave voice by saying : 
"The rebels will all be captured and that will end 
the war." To this I could only smile inwardly. 
July 13 my nurse, with his paper and a smile, 
came to read me the news. I was prepared for 



224 THE STORY OF 

the worst — but when he read, it was that General 
Meade was now up, fully ready, and the attack 
would be made tomorrow, when Lee and his army 
would be captured, or driven into the river. Morn- 
ing came, and the nurse and his paper, but as 
he approached I noted quite a change in his ex- 
pression; he read, when General Meade moved 
out to attack the rebel army, behold ! "the old fox 
had gone,*' having crossed the river the night 
before ! 

July 20 we were ordered to be removed from 
the field hospital, but to what place we did not 
know. A Union captain of Pennsylvania, with 
a squad of soldiers, conducted us to the railway 
station at Gettysburg nearly a mile away. I 
should not have gone, as the journey came near 
finishing me up. The captain was exceedingly 
kind, affording me all the help in his power. The 
whole of the wounded squad was put aboard box 
cars at night, landing in Baltimore at dawn, I 
more dead than alive. I felt sure, as the rough 
train rolled along, that I was near death. John 
H. Peck, of the 24th Virginia, who had a wound 
in the head, was with us, and by encouragement 
and otherwise rendered me much assistance. 

In Baltimore the cars were run up far into the 
city, where we left the train, being immediately 
surrounded by a cordon of soldiers and police, 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 225 

with a number of ladies, men and boys, who 
endeavored to supply us with food, but were 
beaten off by the guards, who quickly landed us 
inside the high plank fence surrounding the 
grounds of West Building Hospital. The ladies 
again renewed their efforts to supply us with food 
by tossing it over the high fence, but were re- 
pulsed by the soldiers' bayonets — which we still 
think was a mean act. With James H. Fortner, 
of my company, who had a severe flesh wound 
in the thigh, I lay down beside the fence in the 
shade, unable to move further. In an hour or less 
an order came to get into ranks. Neither Fort- 
ner nor myself moved, being determined to re- 
main and take chances. Fortunate for us that 
we remained, for the poor fellows who marched 
away landed in Point Lookout prison; the men 
seriously wounded, however, being sent to hos- 
pital at Chester, Pennsylvania, I among the num- 
ber, with Fortner. I had requested Fortner to 
remain with me, for should I die he could inform 
my people. After comrades had marched away, 
Fortner and I dragged ourselves into the hos- 
pital building, lying down on the bare floor. 

During the evening two ladies came in where 
we were, one of whom inquired: ''Where are 
you from ?" ''Virginia," I answered. "Then you 
are not more than half rebels." Replying, I said: 

15 



226 THE STORY OF 

"Well, I am a full-blooded rebel, whatever the 
people of Virginia may be." From their constant 
glances at each other and toward the door, and 
from the expressions on their faces, I was well sat- 
isfied that at heart they were true Southern spirits, 
angels of mercy, and had used the above language 
to us fearing the walls had ears. Presently one 
inquired if we wanted anything to eat, and being 
told we would be glad to have milk, they fur- 
nished it and departed. 

That night we were placed on cots near each 
other, in a clean, airy room. Fortner, in en- 
deavoring to assist me to rise, fell on his wounded 
leg, which caused him great pain. The second 
night thereafter, we were placed in box cars, 
passing next day through Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, where a curious, motley crowd gathered to 
see us ; they peeped and peered at us as if aston- 
ished that we did not have hoofs and horns. That 
evening we reached Chester, on the Delaware, 
where we were placed in hospital (now Crozer 
Theological Seminary). Here we met a num- 
ber of the men we had parted from in Baltimore, 
among them John H. Peck and J. B. Young, the 
latter of Company D. The surgeon of our ward 
was Dr. Schafer of Philadelphia, who was kind 
to us. He, however, soon went away, being suc- 
ceeded by a doctor from Franklin County — a Vir- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 227 

ginia renegade, who was insulting, mean and cow- 
ardly, and the wounded gave him many a hard 
thrust. 

While in this hospital several; ladies and gen- 
tlemen from the State of Connecticut came into 
the ward, engaging me in conversation about the 
war, saying among other things that the South 
in seceding was wrong and unjustifiable, that the 
proper course, or that which should have been 
pursued, was to fight in the Union. To which 
I replied that they were in some respects much 
like many of the Northern people who encouraged 
the South to take action, that they would be with 
us, but when the test came were found on the 
other side. Again, that I could not see well how 
we could remain in the Union and at the same 
time try to strangle and destroy the government 
of which we claimed to be a part ; that it was cer- 
tain, had we done so and been overthrown, we 
would have been traitors sure enough and most 
likely have gone to the gibbet. 

After a stay at Chester of thirty days or less, 
all who desired to go South were paroled, I among 
the number, and were transported by boat to City 
Point, thence by rail to Richmond. The authori- 
ties ordered us to Camp Lee, a Confederate re- 
cruiting station near the city. This we did not 
like, and a few of us determined to go home, or 



228 THE STORY OF 

to our commands, and we made the start, but 
were halted a Httle way out of the city by some 
local troops, who charged us with an effort to 
desert. We explained the situation, but this did 
not satisfy them. I met with a Confederate en- 
rolling officer, who kindly took me home with 
him, giving me written pass to my command, 
then in camp on the Rapidan, whither I went, 
and was quite a surprise to Drs. Morton and 
Worthington and my comrades, who told me that 
they supposed me dead. Dr. Morton, who was 
wearing a soft felt black hat, said to me : "When 
I left you in the field hospital at Gettysburg I 
never expected to see you again in life. You 
were as black in the face as this hat." I soon had 
furlough and went home, where I remained until 
the first of November, when I learned I had been 
exchanged, and at once left to rejoin my com- 
mand. 

I forgot to relate an incident worthy of men- 
tion, at least to me. In the hospital at Chester, 
when Dr. Schafer already referred to examined 
me, he said: "Young man, do you know you 
are nearly dead?" I gasped for breath, saying: 
"I think it quite possible." Placing a small bot- 
tle of something within my reach, he charged me 
to take of this when inclined to cough, without 
waiting until the coughing began, for he said : 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 229 

"If you have a spell of coughing you would surely 
die of hemorrhage in ten minutes." He then pro- 
cured for me a nurse, an Irishman, the father 
of two sons in the Union army, who had been in 
the Battle of Shiloh, Tenn. In speaking fondly 
of these boys he wept like a child. Fortunate it 
was that I fell into the hands of this kindly- 
hearted man, for a mother could not have cared 
more tenderly for her son than he did for me. 
Such cases confirm the fact that human sympathy 
asserts itself even in the rancors of war. 



CaiapterXX 



Return to My Command. 

Long Stay at Taylorsville in November and De- 
cember, 1863, and Part of January, 1864. 
Dr. BlackwelFs Address. 
Our Second North Carolina Campaign. 
General and Mrs. Pickett and Baby George. 
Back in Virginia. 
The Advance to Newbern. 
Capture and Execution of Deserters. 
In Camp at Goldsboro. 
Shooting a Confederate Deserter. 
The Shoemaker's Letter. 
Wilmington and Mouth of Cape Fear. 
Return and to Tarboro. 
The Capture of Plymouth, N. C. 
To Washington and Newbern. 
Return to Virginia. 



I JOINED my command, then at Taylors- 
ville, Virginia, whither it had been sent to 
rendezvous and recruit, at the same time 
guarding the bridges over the North and South 
Anna rivers. Our long stay at Taylorsville dur- 
ing the months of November and December, 
1863, and for part of January, 1864, gave ample 
opportunity to discuss the serious aspect of affairs. 
We had received a stunning blow at Gettysburg, 
evidenced by the absence forever of brave men 
whose places could not be supplied. Naturally 
the query was often made, how long will the war 
last ? When will it end ? What are our prospects 
for success? Will it continue until the last man 
falls? What do the Northern people mean? Is 
it their intention to subjugate the states, and over- 
throw the citadel of liberty itself? They call us 
rebels — can a sovereign be a rebel ? We had been 
taught that the states were sovereign and that 
their governments were instituted to secure cer- 
tain inalienable rights, with which their Creator 
had endowed them — among these, life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness, and that the security of 
all these resided with the states and the people 
thereof, and not with their Federal agent. These 
and many other matters were discussed, and the 



234 THE STORY OF 

general conclusion arrived at was : we will have to 
fight it out. 

In the last days of November, the Federal 
army, under General Meade, crossed the Rapidan, 
making a feint as if to attack the Army of North- 
ern Virginia, but instead re-crossed the river, 
seeming to have crossed for no other purpose 
than to cross back again. We had orders to be 
ready to go to General Lee's aid. 

While at Taylorsville the Rev. Dr. Blackwell, 
who had resided in the cities of Norfolk and 
Portsmouth, Virginia, during General Butler's 
reign of terror therein, delivered to our brigade 
a lecture on Butler, his troops, and the noble 
women of those cities. After describing the in- 
sults of the Federal soldiery, and the sacrifices 
and heroic conduct of the women, he pronounced 
upon them an eulogy, a part only of which is re- 
called, and is now here reproduced; he began by 
saying : 

"Woman is lovely, but not a goddess. 
We call her angel, but she has no wings to 
soar quite beyond the bounds of terrene. She 
is the loveliest form of beauty known to 
earth, and presents the purest type of that 
sweet companionship that awaits us in the 
bright land of the hereafter; but still she is 
flesh and blood, loves to steal from the bow- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 235 

ers of her paradise and dwell with men, 
mingle in the common concerns and partake 
of the common infirmities of the human race. 
As the graceful vine entwines itself around 
the sturdy oak when riven by the lightnings 
of Heaven, so she, though the feebler, gentler 
sex, is the prop upon which the sterner sex 
in the midst of revolution often leans for 
repose. * * * And when the history 
of this revolution is fully written, these noble 
women will stand in the front ranks of that 
illustrious galaxy of Southern females whose 
heroic acts and beauteous deeds have illum- 
inated our Heavens, and thrown a halo of 
fadeless glory around the noble women of 
Norfolk and Portsmouth." 

Our General Pickett was married, as I now 
recall, in September, 1863, in Petersburg, Vir- 
ginia, to Miss Corbell, a lovely, highly cultivated 
Virginia woman who occasionally rode with the 
General through our camps, attending the divi- 
sion review. Later, when Baby George arrived, 
he was exhibited in the camps, the soldiers eagerly 
fondling him ; nor was his linen as spotless or his 
humor as sweet when handed back to his mother 
or nurse as when the boys received him. 

The General and boy have both passed to the 
Great Beyond, but the lovely wife and mother 



236 THE STORY OF 

still lives to brighten the memories of husband 
and son, the noble dead of the division, and to 
cheer the hearts of the brave men who counted it 
the honor of their lives to have marched with the 
noble Pickett, made famous for all time to come 
by his charge at Gettysburg, now celebrated in 
song and literature. 

Our rations were not abundant while at Tay- 
lorsville; one pint of unsieved meal and a quar- 
ter of a pound of bacon per day. Coffee was 
made of parched wheat rye, and sometimes of rice 
when we had it. Occasionally the men managed 
to get turnips or potatoes, of which they made 
fairly good soup. There was so little of the bacon 
that we could not afford to fry it, so we generally 
ate it raw, with an ash or Johnny cake; we had 
but few cooking utensils, and had need of few. 

Religious services were held when possible; 
the weather for the most part was too inclement 
to have open air services, and we had no church. 
Such services as were had were generally in the 
messes, or conducted in the quarters of J. Tyler 
Frazier, to which all were invited. 

Being under orders to march, our preparations 
therefor completed, we took up the movement 
January 20, going through Richmond and Peters- 
burg, where we were put aboard cars and trans- 
ported to Goldsboro, N. C, remaining there a 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 237 

few days. Leaving camp at Goldsboro January 
29, we proceeded to Kinston, on the Neuse River, 
thence through the swamps and bogs, crossing 
the Trent River to the vicinity of Newbern, N. C, 
where we made some captures of prisoners and 
stores, and blew up a Federal gunboat lying in 
the river, under the forts, which was accomplished 
by Colonel Wood, with his marines. A section 
of 3d New York artillery — two guns — was cap- 
tured, together with several hundred prisoners, 
among them 35 or more of the 2d Loyal North 
Carolina regiment, who had been soldiers in our 
army, deserted, and joined the enemy. These 
men were recognized and sent back under guard 
to Kinston. 

Our people found Newbern better prepared for 
defense than was anticipated, and after some 
strong reconnaissances on all the roads, gather- 
ing up all the supplies within reach that could be 
transported, at dark, February 3, we silently 
folded our tents and stole away, floundering all 
night along through the swamps and mud, cross- 
ing the Trent a little after dawn. During the 
night we passed through extensive turpentine or- 
chards, which the men set fire to, and by the 
light of which many sloughs were avoided. Our 
movement continued until Kinston was reached, 
where we rested a few days. 



238 THE STORY OF 

The next day after reaching Kinston the court- 
martial was convened for the trial of the thirty- 
five deserters referred to, w^ho had been captured 
wearing United States uniforms and with guns in 
their hands, fighting under the flag of the enemy. 
The guilt of twenty-two of them being fully es- 
tablished, they were sentenced to be hanged; the 
sentence being approved by the department com- 
mander, was carried into execution a few days 
thereafter in the vicinity of our camp : a gruesome 
piece of business, which duty did not require me 
to witness. 

About the middle of February we moved on 
westward to Goldsboro. Rations were still short, 
and there was some complaint by the farmers 
of the loss of hogs. This complaint was not 
without foundation, for fresh pork was found in 
some of the camps, and the offenders punished, 
a penalty, as the writer believes, not deserved. 
Most of these charges were made against the 24th 
Virginia regiment, one against some of the team- 
sters of our regiment. A member of Company 
D was charged with being the informant, though 
he helped eat the hog, but whether the charge was 
true or false, the informant made the disclosure 
in order to get a furlough, which he received, but 
never came back — deserted. This same inform- 
ant had been wounded at the second battle of 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 239 

Manassas, and on his return to the command at 
Goldsboro claimed that he was not able for serv- 
ice, taking up lodgings with some of the team- 
sters. He wrote a letter to General Lee, which 
ran about as follows : 

"Dear General : I am a member of Com- 
pany D, 7th Virginia Infantry. I was 
wounded at the second battle of Manassas 
and am unfit for duty in the field. I am 
a pretty fair shoemaker, and if I can be de- 
tailed, I am willing to render all the services 
I can/' 

General Lee transmitted the letter to the regi- 
ment and the men had a good deal of fun out of 

. Soon after he became informant as 

to hog stealing, got the furlough, and deserted, 
as above stated — good riddance to bad rubbish. 
A member of Company B, 7th regiment, who 
was under death sentence for desertion, was kept 
under strict guard with ball and chain. Late one 
evening an order came for his execution the next 
day. I carried the order to the officer of the 
guard, whose instructions were to double the 
guard and see that their guns were loaded. The 
condemned man's brother was a member of the 
guard, who, on ascertaining that his brother was 
to be shot the next day, requested that I send 
Rev.. J. Tyler Frazier to see him. Frazier hap- 



240 THE STORY OF 

pened to be out of the camp; as soon as he re- 
turned, I accompanied him to see the man, but 
he refused to listen to Mr. Frazier; in fact, the 
man did not beheve he would be shot until the 
next morning when the wagon drove up with his 
coffin and he was required to ride thereon to the 
place of execution, where he died from the fire 
of a platoon of men of his own command. 

March 5 we moved by rail to Wilmington, 
thence by steamer to Smithfield, near the mouth 
of the Cape Fear River. The 24th regiment was 
sent to garrison Forts Caswell and Campbell, 
while we remained in camp near Smithfield. 

I find in a letter written by me from Smith- 
field, March 14, the following: "It has been 
nine days since our brigade arrived at this place. 
One regiment, the 24th, has been sent to garrison 
Forts Caswell and Campbell. I have just re- 
turned from a visit to the former. We crossed 
over in an open boat, the distance being two miles. 
There was quite a lively time at the forts this 
morning, when the blockade runner 'Lucy,' in at- 
tempting to run in, was beached, the enemy mak- 
ing attempt to capture her, but he was driven off 
by our batteries." 

Here oysters were cheap and readily procured, 
the men cooking them in various ways. Some 
roasted them in the shell, some ate them raw. and 




Lieut. Thomas S. Taylor 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 241 

some mixed them in corn dough and baked them. 
We did not Hke the coast and longed for our Vir- 
ginia hills. Under orders we left Smithfield 
aboard a steamer for Wilmington. The river was 
full of torpedoes and we were in dread of being 
blown up. The situation was in some measure 
relieved by Bill Dean and his Glee Club, who 
sang : "Oh ! Carry Me Back to Old Virginia Once 
More." 

Wilmington was reached Saturday, the 26th, 
where the ground was covered with a light snow, 
which increased in depth as we receded from the 
coast. We moved by rail from Wilmington to 
Goldsboro, where we went into camp until Friday, 
the first of April, when the march was again taken 
up through snow and mud to Tarboro, thence 
through Greenville, crossing over to the waters 
of the Roanoke, to the vicinity of Plymouth, 
N. C, where on the i8th a portion of Hoke's bri- 
gade (21st Georgia regiment), assailed late in 
the evening an outlying fort, in which assault 
Colonel Mercer was killed and the assault re- 
pulsed. Later the same evening this fort was sur- 
rounded by a portion of our brigade with a cloud 
of sharpshooters and artillery, which prevented 
the garrison from handling their guns, and the 
fort finally surrendered. The investing force of 



16 



242 THE STORY OF 

the town were the brigades of Ransom, Hoke and 
Terry, formerly Kemper's. 

Sergeant William Parrott of Charlottesville 
and I that night bore a flag of truce to the 
enemy's lines, under which demand for the sur- 
render of the town was made, but refused. Dur- 
ing the night the Confederate iron clad ram 
''Albemarle" came down the Roanoke River and 
aided in the assault next morning, when the 
enemy's works and the town were carried, the 
garrison surrendering when all hope of success- 
ful resistance was gone. Our brigade was moved 
across the Washington road, whereon the enemy 
was attempting to escape. In this movement we 
were brought under the fire of the heavy guns in 
the forts, which at close range gave us a severe 
shelling, whereby quite a number of men of the 
brigade were injured — a few in our regiment — 
but two in Company D — A. L. Fry and John W. 
East — slightly wounded. Soon after occupying 
the road referred to and close up to the enemy's 
entrenchments, there came at a headlong run up 
to our line, and before he discovered us, a big, 
black, burly negro soldier, the first of his kind 
we had seen. The negro was so badly frightened 
that had it been possible he would have changed 
his color. 

The fruits of this victory, at comparatively 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 243 

small cost, were the Federal commander, General 
Wessels, and i,6oo prisoners, besides about 700 
negroes, 2,000 small arms, and valuable quarter- 
master and commissary stores, the capture and 
sinking of one or more Federal gunboats. From 
the commissary and sutler's stores the men ob- 
tained bountiful supplies of food, underwear, 
boots and shoes. The Federal loss in this battle, 
other than prisoners, artillery and stores already 
mentioned, was 41 killed and 59 wounded. The 
Confederate loss, 124 killed and 174 wounded. 
Our enjoyment was but brief, however, for that 
evening we took the road to Washington, a town 
at the head of Pamlico Sound, marching rapidly, 
so that by night we were in the neighborhood of 
our destination, which early next morning Gen- 
eral Hoke was preparing to invest, when it was 
discovered that the enemy had evacuated it; dis- 
gracing themselves and their flag before their 
departure by arson and pillage. 

General Hoke, determined to push his suc- 
cesses, marched immediately upon Newbern, de- 
manding its surrender, which, being refused, he 
was preparing to carry by assault, when he was 
directed to hasten to the relief of Petersburg, 
now threatened by a strong Federal army under 
General Butler. 

At Tarboro, B. L. Hoge wasi taken sick and 



244 THE STORY OF 

sent to hospital, and J. B. Croy had been sent on 
detached service to the Blackwater region. How 
many of Company D were on this expedition to 
Plymouth, Washington and Newbern, I am un- 
able to state, but I know the company had been 
much reduced in numbers. Lieutenant Stone was 
still a prisoner at Fort Delaware, Lieutenant 
Walker, disabled at Gettysburg, had been retired ; 
Captain Bane and Lieutenant Mullins were the 
only commissioned officers with us. 

In May, 1864, the Federal General Butler 
landed at City Point, on the James, with an army 
of more than 25,000 men, and feeling his way 
carefully and slowly toward Petersburg, had on 
the 9th reached Swift Creek, three miles north 
of the city. Confronting him was General 
Pickett, with a small number of Carolina troops, 
and a few pieces of artillery. Pickett kept his 
men so well in hand and so maneuvered as to con- 
ceal from his adversary his real weakness. In 
this situation and while the Confederates were far 
away, near Newbern, with the Federals threat- 
ening Richmond and Petersburg, General Hoke, 
in front of Newbern, received an order to repair 
with haste to Petersburg. About dark on May 
6 we left the front of Newbern, the head of the 
column directed for Petersburg, about 175 miles 
away. The ist Virginia had hastened through 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 245 

to Kinston, where it obtained railroad transpor- 
tation, which carried it to Jarrett's, twenty miles 
south of Petersburg. Our column, taking a bee 
line, moved night and day, having to halt occa- 
sionally at the tidewater streams to build bridges 
out of round logs thrown into the water and 
fastened together with grapevines. Reaching 
Stony Creek, twenty miles or more south of 
Petersburg, we found the railroad bridge de- 
stroyed by the Federal cavalry. The situation 
at Petersburg was so pressing as to demand the 
presence of the troops without delay. All the 
rolling stock of every kind of the railroad at that 
pKDint was rushed to meet us, and we boarded the 
cars just wherever we met them. By ii o'clock 
Thursday, May 12, we were in the city, and Gen- 
eral Butler had lost his opportunity. Never be- 
fore had we done such marching. Mr. D. H. 
Hill, in his Confederate Military History of North 
Carolina, page 248, speaking of this march of 
General Hoke from Newbern to Petersburg, says : 
"This march of General Hoke's troops stands at 
West Point as the most rapid movement of troops 
on record." 

Apparently the whole populace, men, women 
and children, of Petersburg had gathered to wel- 
come us, their deliverers from the presence and 
hand of General Butler, whose notoriety in New 



246 THE STORY OF 

Orleans, Norfolk and Portsmouth had won for 
him the appellation "Beast Butler," a reputation 
world-wide. General Butler was, therefore, re- 
garded by these people as a menace to the safety 
of property and helpless women and children. 
This is why everybody in Petersburg shouted for 
joy when we entered the city and marched across 
the Appomattox to interpose between them and 
Butler's troops. We went forward to Swift 
Creek, taking position on the east side of the 
turnpike road in front of the enemy's skirmishers. 
The shades of night now having fallen, we lay 
on our arms, discovering next morning by the 
advance of our skirmishers that the enemy had 
withdrawn from our front, whereupon we pro- 
ceeded along the road leading to Richmond, the 
rear guard being fired upon as we passed the 
"Halfway House." Reaching the outer defenses 
of Dreuery's Bluff, our brigade, now commanded 
by Brigadier-General W. R. Terry, was placed 
in battle line on the west side of the aforesaid 
turnpike road, facing south — having by the day's 
march placed ourselves between the enemy and 
Richmond. 



Chapter XXI 



Battle of Dreury's Bluff. 

The Forces Engaged. 

Casualties. 

The Pursuit of General Butler's Troops. 

Bombardment at Howlett's House. 

The Wounding of Lieutenant John W. MuUins. 

His Death. 

Withdrawal from Howlett's House. 



GENERAL BEAUREGARD, in command 
of the department, arrived on the morning 
of the 14th, having passed with a cavalry 
escort entirely around the enemy's left. About 
noon of the 15th we were moved to an inner line 
of defenses, which shortened the line to be de- 
fended ; this was made necessary by the smallness 
of our force, for it appears that the Confederates 
had only 13,000 men with which to meet Butler's 
40,000. This Confederate force was divided, two 
or three brigades remaining at Petersburg under 
General Whiting. No help could be had from 
the Army of Northern Virginia, then engaged in 
desperate struggle at Spottsylvania, with the Fed- 
eral Army of the Potomac. 

It was made known to us on the evening of the 
15th that at a council of war held by General 
Beauregard and his subordinates it had been de- 
termined to attack General Butler's army next 
morning at daylight, and that the division of Gen- 
eral Ransom, to which our brigade (Terry's) be- 
longed, was to lead the attack. Late in the day, 
Sunday, we marched toward the James River to 
a point overlooking Kingsland Creek, behind 
which, on the higher ground beyond, the enemy 
was! in line of battle in force, sheltered by tem- 



250 THE STORY OF 

porary log breastworks, a small body of Confeder- 
ate cavalry guarding the Confederate left. Being 
supplied with sixty rounds of cartridges, we lay 
down in a skirt of timber near the old stage road 
leading from Richmond to Petersburg, a little 
more than three-fourths of a mile from the 
enemy's line. We were informed that we should 
be up at 2 A. M., march forward and open the 
battle at daylight. Some who had passed un- 
scathed through the ordeal of a dozen battles were 
to go down in this, among them the gallant boy 
Walker, of the nth regiment, who had borne 
aloft and planted on the enemy's works at Gettys- 
burg the flag of this regiment, having his horse 
killed under him there and a number of bullets 
through his clothing. 

To fight this battle of Dreury's Bluff was im- 
perative, and to become the assailants was a neces- 
sity, for if the enemy should maintain his posi- 
tion then occupied in front of Dreury's Bluff 
(only seven miles below Richmond) and General 
Grant continued his flank movement to the James 
River until he formed a junction with General 
Butler, the fate of Richmond, and most prob- 
ably of the Confederacy, would have been decided 
a year earlier ; hence this battle, and the necessity 
of fighting it successfully, which we did. 

During the early part of the night preceding, 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 251 

I visited the artillery company of Captain David 
A. French, from my county. Captain French 
was absent that evening, the company under the 
command of his brave Lieutenant D. W. Mason. 
Captain French arrived next day during the pro- 
gress of the battle. Lieutenant Mason led his 
company in the thickest of the fight, sustaining 
his already brilliant record as a brave soldier. 
Promptly at 2 A. M. on Monday, the i6th, v^e 
were roused from our slumbers and quickly got- 
ten into line, discarding all baggage — indeed, 
everything that would make a noise calculated to 
arouse the enemy. Stealing quietly out of the 
woods, we proceeded down the old stage road, 
through a field, across Kingsland Creek, where 
we halted, forming a line of battle. The Alabama 
brigade of General Gracie, and the North Carolina 
brigade of General Hoke, formed the front line, 
with Generals Terry's and Fry's commands four 
hundred yards in rear, forming the second line. 
The assaulting force could not have numbered 
four thousand men all told. What was in front 
of us we did not know, being already enveloped 
by a dense fog. The columns now formed, the 
brigade of Gracie led off, ours following at close 
distance. The Federal skirmishers in their rifle 
pits, alarmed by the commands of our officers, 
fired rapidly, but at random, as they could not see 



252 THE STORY OF 

us on account of the fog; but their fire aroused 
their main line of battle. The ground over which 
the attacking column passed was a gradual ascent 
from the creek bottom for a distance of three 
hundred yards to the summit, then a slight descent 
for the same distance to the enemy's battle line, 
the right of which rested on a swamp rendered 
almost impenetrable on account of the water, 
thorns and brambles. 

Terry's brigade, only forty or fifty yards in 
rear of Gracie's, reached the summit almost as 
soon as Gracie's men, who, as well as ourselves, 
became immediately exposed to the enemy's fire, 
which as yet was not effective, for they could not 
see us, and now as the fire had opened, the smoke 
therefrom, together with the dense fog, created 
a darkness in which a man could not be seen a 
few yards away. General Terry had halted his 
brigade on the summit, where it was receiving 
the enemy's fire, now becoming more accurate, 
causing some of the companies on the right to lie 
down. Colonel Flowerree, now commanding the 
7th Virginia, observing this, called out : "Stand 
up, men! Don't you see the balls are striking 
the ground at your feet, and there is greater dan- 
ger lying down than standing up." 

On our immediate right was Barton's brigade, 
commanded by Colonel Fry. A part of Gracie's 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 253 

men had gotten close to the enemy's line, meet- 
ing such stubborn resistance that they lay down 
and our brigade was ordered forward. Now was 
the supreme moment. Such a deafening rebel 
yell ! It must have given every Yankee in the 
region roundabout a cold chill, for to this day 
they say that hideous rebel yell was dreaded more 
than bullets. Here on this summit we had stood 
in awful suspense for twenty minutes or more, 
exposed to the enemy's fire. It was therefore a 
positive relief to hear the word : ''Forward !" And 
forward we went, through fog, smoke and leaden 
hail. At each volley delivered by the enemy, down 
went numbers of our men, and as yet not a man 
in our brigade had fired a shot, anxious at least 
to see something to shoot at, and to get to closer 
quarters. 

The 7th Virginia held the left of the brigade 
line, overlapping by three or more companies the 
left of Gracie's line. These companies in the head- 
long rush saw nothing of Gracie's men, who had 
halted and laid down. Now near the enemy's 
firing line, unable to get forward on account of 
the swamp referred to. Captain Parr, Adjutant, 
took these three companies by a double quick to a 
position on the right wing, but before this could 
be accomplished the regiment had broken the 
enemy's line — that of a New Jersey regiment of 



254 THE STORY OF 

Heckman's brigade — and crossed his breast- 
works, making a right wheel, uniting with the 
companies led by Captain Parr, and struck the 
flank of the 27th Massachusetts regiment, cap- 
turing its Colonel (Lee), together with its colors, 
a large number of prisoners, including General 
Heckman, the brigade commander, who was 
captured by Sergeant Blakey of F Company, who 
surrendered his sword to Colonel Flowerree of 
our regiment. This incident was witnessed by 
the writer. This wheel and attack upon the 
enemy's flank and rear had relieved the pres- 
sure on the I St, nth and 24th regiments, which 
for some minutes before were engaged in a 
hand-to-hand contest with the enemy behind 
their breastworks; indeed, so close had they 
gotten that the men did not take time to return 
ramrods to their thimbles, but ran down the 
cartridges, fired away, filling the logs of the 
breastworks and trees with the ramrods. This 
may be thought a fish story, but it is absolutely 
true. French's Giles County battery of four 
guns already mentioned was on the field just to 
our right and in the hottest of the battle, suffer- 
ing loss in making a brave fight. 

The loss in the ist, nth and 24th regiments 
of our brigade had been severe in officers and 
men — some companies losing nearly half their 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 255 

number in killed and wounded. The color ser- 
geant of the nth regiment had a bayonet fixed 
to the point of his color staff, which he used with 
effect upon the enemy at the breastworks. The 
brigade continued its flank movement along the 
rear of the enemy's position until it had cleared 
the whole of its original front, and had gained 
a position looking back towards Kingsland 
Creek, where it halted and faced about, taking 
possession of the enemy's log breastworks and 
fronting the enemy. A short lull now followed, 
during which an Irish Sergeant of the ist regi- 
ment came to me talking with J. Tyler Frazier, 
and presented me with a fine black felt hat, lost 
by some Federal officer in his hurry to get away, 
about which hat the sequel will appear later. In 
a few minutes the enemy on our right flank was 
upon us, and before action could be taken to 
meet them, fired a volley enfilading our line, but 
thanks to their bad aim and the fact that the 
men were mostly lying down, nobody was hurt; 
however, in making left wheel to meet this as- 
sault, four men were injured; among them I re- 
call Sergeant Carpenter of Company A, a gal- 
lant soldier, was killed ; Sergeant Fry of D Com- 
pany in the melee fell — he may have stumped his 
toe. The Confederate troops on our right struck 
the flank of the enemy, who had flanked us, and 



256 THE STORY OF 

repulsed their attack, and with this the battle 
virtually ended. Butler was retreating and get- 
ting away — a thing he was good at. He had had 
enough and was willing to quit. He retired be- 
hind his intrenched line at Bermuda Hundred, 
where the Confederates ''bottled him up." 

The Federal casualties in this battle were 422 
killed, 2380 wounded, of which 1388 were made 
prisoners, together with five stand of colors, of 
which four of the colors and 400 of the prisoners 
were taken by our brigade, and five field guns 
were captured. The Confederate casualties were 
514 killed, 1086 wounded. In Terry's brigade 
the losses were as follows : 

1st Virginia 12 killed, 25 wounded 

7th Virginia 2 killed, 37 wounded 

nth Virginia 15 killed, 94 wounded 

24th Virginia 28 killed, 108 wounded 

57 killed, 264 wounded 

Total 321 

The brave Colonel Maury and Major Ham- 
brick of the 24th were wounded, the former 
severely when within a few feet of the enemy's 
line, the latter mortally. Company D of the 7th 
regiment lost John W. East, and John S. Dud- 
ley, slightly wounded. The losses in the 7th 
regiment were less on account of its being less 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 257 

exposed in its flank movement on the enemy's 
right and rear. 

The Confederate troops remained on the bat- 
tle field that night, burying the dead and caring 
for the wounded. Early next morning we 
started in pursuit of the enemy, whom we fol- 
lowed on this and the next day to the Howlett 
house on the James, where the Confederates had 
some unfinished earthworks. Reaching the edge 
of an open field on which the earthworks were 
located, I was directed to go forward to the works 
to see what or who was there, and finding the 
trenches entirely abandoned, I waived my cap, 
when the ist and 7th regiments speedily came up 
and took possession. Here they suffered eleven 
hours from an unmerciful shelling from a num- 
ber of Federal gunboats in the river. Several 
men of the two regiments were killed or injured. 
Lieutenant John W. Mullins of Company D, 
in command of the skirmish line, was danger- 
ously wounded in the breast, dying on the 226. 
of June following. He was a bright and brave 
young man. Major Howard and Sergeant Tom 
Fox of the regiment were badly hurt. With- 
drawing the evening of the 19th, we went into 
camp a short distance from the Clay house. 



17 



Chapter XXII 



To Richmond. 

Captured Flags. 

Affair at Milford. 

Hanover Junction. 

North Anna. 

Cold Harbor. 

Tom Yowell's Yarn. 

John A. Hale and His Prisoner. 

Malvern Hill. 



MAY 20 the brigade marched into Rich- 
mond, each of the regiments bearing one 
of the captured flags taken in the engage- 
ment of Dreury's Bluff. In the evening a por- 
tion of the command was placed on flat cars and 
transported to Milford station, on the R. F. and 
P. railroad, a few miles south of Fredericksburg, 
where on the next morning we were attacked by 
the advance of General Grant's army, Torbett's 
cavalry. The portion of our brigade present 
now numbered less than 500 men, commanded 
by Major George F. Norton of the ist regiment, 
with Sergeant Major J. R. Pollock acting Assist- 
ant Adjutant General. After a spirited contest 
of more than an hour, in which the repeated 
charges of the Federal cavalry were repulsed, 
Major Norton ordered the men to retire, and 
they withdrew across the river, the Mattapony, 
Captain Parr and I dismantling the bridge by 
throwing the planks from the center into the 
river, thus preventing immediate pursuit by* the 
Federal cavalry. The tough resistance given the 
Federal advance, together with the story of Tom 
Yowell of the 7th regiment, given below, caused 
the Federal General Hancock to halt his com- 



262 THE STORY OF 

mand, throw up intrenchments and prepare for 
an attack. This halt gave General Lee time to 
reach Hanover Junction in advance of the enemy. 

A correspondent of a Northern newspaper 
with the Union army reported on May 22, "The 
army under Hancock arrived at Mil ford yester- 
day and met a force of the enemy said to be 
13,000 strong, drove them through the town and 
pursued them some distance." The only Confed- 
erate troops Hancock met were the 500 above 
mentioned, and there were no others within sev- 
eral miles. 

Tom Yowell had been captured on the skirmish 
line and was taken to General Hancock, who in- 
quired to what command he belonged. Yowell 
with much bravado told him we had given Butler 
the devil a few days before, and that our brigade 
was the advance of General Lee's army from 
Spottsylvania, and pointing south to a large 
white house a mile or more away, said, "That is 
General Lee's headquarters." Yowell told his 
story with so much apparent frankness that Gen- 
eral Hancock believed it. The Confederate loss 
in this affair was 70 men, mostly of the nth regi- 
ment, captured, some of whom were wounded. 
These were cut off from the bridge by the rapid 
advance of the enemy, some of whom, with those 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 263 

who were cut off, escaped by swimming the 
river. 

Our force joined the main army en route from 
Spottsylvania to Hanover Junction. Here we 
were also joined by a portion of Breckenridge's 
small division from the valley, where a little 
more than a week before it had defeated the 
Federal army under General Sigel. On this 
rapid march from Milford to Hanover Junction, 
John A. Hale of Company D was unable to keep 
up and to prevent capture took to the woods, fol- 
lowing the line of march, keeping the general di- 
rection. Going to a private house for food, he 
found a Union soldier there on the same errand, 
whom he captured and brought into our lines. 

Held in reserve, we had little or nothing to 
do with the fighting at the North Anna. On May 
27 we made an all day march in the rain, going 
into camp near Atlee's station. In the evening 
of the following day a march was made twelve 
miles in the direction of Hanovertown, camping 
three miles north of Mechanicsville, following 
General Grant around the circle. On the eve- 
ning of the 30th we reached our position in battle 
line near Cold Harbor, being assigned a place on 
the left of Law's Alabama brigade and Hoke's 
division. 

At 4 o'clock, June 2, the battle of Cold Harbor 



264 THE STORY OF 

began on our right, raging furiously until sun- 
set. By means of an improvised telegraphy, in- 
formation was received that the enemy had been 
repulsed. This improvised telegraphy was noth- 
ing more than passing word from man to man 
and on this occasion came, 'Tass it along the 
lines that we have whipped the enemy on the 
right." Early on the morning of the 3d the 
battle of Cold Harbor was resumed, Hoke's, 
Breckenridge's and part of Anderson's divisions 
being engaged on the right. When the battle 
ended, we were informed by the same telegraphic 
line that the enemy had been defeated. On our 
front had been nothing more than artillery fire, 
with severe skirmishing. However, as the bat- 
tle progressed, our division was ordered to be 
ready to attack the enemy in front, and we were 
very well satisfied when the order was revoked. 

In Breckenridge's division, heavily engaged on 
the 3d, I had a schoolmate. Lieutenant James K. 
Peck, of whom I was fond, and for whose safety 
I was anxious. I was greatly distressed on learn- 
ing a few days afterwards that he was killed on 
the 3d. 

The Federal casualties in the battle at Cold 
Harbor were over 10,000; the Confederate 1500. 
I find no report of casualties in our division, 
brigade or regiment ; no casualties in Company D. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 265 

I had the opportunity to look at a portion of 
the battlefield in front of the position held by 
General Hoke's division on the 3d. During the 
war I never saw so many dead Union soldiers on 
any field. General Hoke's division had not a 
man killed. The weather was oppressively hot. 
The blood, burnt powder, and dead bodies pro- 
duced a stench which cannot be described, and 
not to be endured long by the living. 

General Grant was again moving, not toward 
Richmond, but away from it, toward the James 
river; we following, ten days after the battle, 
crossing to the south side of the Chickahominy, 
keeping between the Federal army and Rich- 
mond, and this tramp watching the movement of 
General Grant was kept up until the vicinity of 
Malvern Hill was reached. 

I cannot well help breaking the thread of my 
narrative to tell a little humorous camp story 
prevalent among our men just after the battle 
of Cold Harbor. It was claimed to have been 
told by a Union soldier to some of our men. It 
ran thus : A private Union soldier who had 
been in the battle and saw the terrific slaughter, 
said to his captain, "We have killed and had 
killed enough men and the war should end, and 
I know what will end it." The captain inquired, 
"What?" "Take Richmond," was the response. 



266 THE STORY OF 

''Yes," said the captain, "that is what General 
Grant is trying to do." The soldier insisting that 
he knew how Richmond could be taken, and the 
captain pressing him to know, he replied : "Swap 
Generals!" 



Chapter XXIII 



From Malvern Hill to the South of the James. 

Engagement at Clay's House. 

Bermuda Hundred Line. 

Christmas Dinner. 

Our Southern Women. 

Close of 1864. 



JUNE 15 Pickett's division marched from 
the vicinity of Malvern Hill up the James, 
crossing the river the morning of June 16, 
on a bridge near Dreury's Bluff, then passing 
over the battlefield of that name, which battle 
we had fought one month before, reaching the 
Petersburg turnpike. When near Port Walthall 
Junction, the head of the column was fired upon 
by the enemy, who had possession of the road. 
The division was immediately formed in line of 
battle on the turnpike, sending out skirmishers, 
driving the enemy and regaining our first line 
of works, which had been vacated that morning 
by the troops having been called to Petersburg. 
The next day commenced heavy skirmish firing. 
Company D was on the skirmish line the day 
before capturing some prisoners, among them an 
Englishman, who came back saying rather ex- 
citedly that he was forced into the army, which 
nobody believed, for the armies of the enemy 
were to a considerable extent made up of for- 
eigners. It was often remarked by our men 
that we were fighting all Yankeedom and the 
rest of mankind. And this reminds me of the 
story told by a Confederate of another who like 
himself had in the battle of the third day at 



270 THE STORY OF 

Gettysburg gone over the enemy's line behind 
the stone fence, reaching a point almost on the 
crest of Cemetery Ridge. Seeing the mighty 
host gathered and gathering to envelop the few 
rebels left, this Confederate cried out, "Do we 
have to whip the world?" Listening for a 
moment, he heard a Federal officer say: "Atten- 
tion, World! By nations right wheel, by states, 
fire!" He concluded it was time for that poor 
Confederate to cut dirt, and he stood not on the 
order of his going. 

Let it be remembered that we were now en- 
gaged in what is known as the battle of Clay's 
House. One of our batteries to our left was now 
throwing shells at the enemy in our front, en- 
deavoring to enfilade their line, during which 
time I was ordered by Colonel Flowerree to go 
along the line of the regiment and tell the com- 
pany commanders to get their men ready for 
the assault. I had proceeded nearly half way 
when a misdirected shell from the battery referred 
to exploded over me, a large fragment grazing 
my head, burying itself at my feet. Had it 
struck my head, there would have been one less 
Sergeant-Major in the Confederate army, and 
this story would not have been written. A 
moment later I saw J. B. Young of D Company 
fall with a severe wound in the head. In a few 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 271 

moments the charge became general, and the 
enemy's intrenchments were carried. General 
Lee was riding close in the rear of our battle line 
at the time of the charge referred to, and meet- 
ing one of our regiment badly wounded and be- 
ing carried out by the litter bearers, said to the 
wounded man, "I hope, my good fellow, you are 
not badly hurt." 

This charge was the subject of a compli- 
mentary letter from General Lee to General An- 
derson, which is as follows : 

"General, I take great pleasure in pre- 
senting to you my congratulations upon the 
conduct of the men of your corps. I be- 
lieve that they will carry anything they are 
put against. We tried very hard to stop 
Pickett's men from capturing the breast- 
works of the enemy, but couldn't do it. I 
hope his loss has been small." 

This reminds me to say here and now, without 
intending the least disparagement of others, that 
the 7th Virginia regiment was never ordered to 
take the enemy's line that it did not take it, never 
gave up or lost a position it was ordered to hold, 
and never left a position or battlefield unless or- 
dered to do so. Once when bodily taken by 
the Federals and carried into captivity, the reader 



272 THE STORY OF 

mig-ht consider an exception to the statement just 
made. 

The charge last above referred to was not with- 
out its casualties, though I have nothing to show 
the division, brigade or regimental losses. In 
the 1st Virginia six men were wounded, and I 
remember that Sergeant William Parrott of 
Company I and J. B. Young of Company D were 
severely and Private William Davis of Company 
C mortally wounded. 

During the remainder of June and for several 
months following we remained on this Bermuda 
Hundred line, occasionally shifting position from 
Howlett House on the James to Swift Creek near 
the Appomattox, until about the middle of July, 
then settling down on a high piece of ground be- 
hind a skirt of timber midway between Howlett 
House and Swift Creek. Here we worked hard 
to strengthen our lines. 

Company D now had but a single commissioned 
officer, Captain Bane. Lieutenant Stone was still 
a prisoner. Lieutenant Walker had been disabled 
at Gettysburg and retired, and Lieutenant Mul- 
lins had died of the wound received at Howlett 
House in June. It was on this line that Sergeant 
T. S. Taylor was elected a lieutenant and E. Z. 
Yager made orderly sergeant of the company. 



Rev. J. Tyler Frazier 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 273 

These selections were well made, and the con- 
fidence reposed not misplaced. 

At or near this time there appeared on our 
lines a man representing himself to be a citizen 
of Alabama, who proposed then to do what could 
not be done, but in some degree has since been 
accomplished — to build a machine to navigate 
the air, carry shells and drop them on the North- 
ern armies, and in their cities. He requested 
donations from each of the soldiers of one dollar, 
and of the officers five dollars each to enable him 
to build his machine. We concluded he was a 
crank, refused to contribute and the man de- 
parted. This fellow was only a little ahead of 
his time. 

At an early hour of July 30th occurred the 
famous explosion of the mine at Petersburg. 
Though several miles away, it so shook the earth 
that the pickets and other men awake at the time 
felt the shock. The fearful artillery fire which 
followed convinced us that an important event 
had occurred. Later in the day we learned what 
had happened, seeing also a full account of the 
occurrence in the Richmond papers the next 
morning. I well remember the comments in the 
Richmond Examiner (a partisan paper) on the 
retaking of the line by the division of General 
Mahone. Describing the slaughter of the Fed- 
is 



274 THE STORY OF 

eral soldiers in the crater, it said : "The slaughter 
was so great that General Mahone sickened at 
the sight and told his men 'for God's sake to 
stop,' and the next time we hope General Mahone 
will shut his eyes." The official report of Gen- 
eral Mahone of the retaking of the line and the 
crater was not furnished by him toi his superior 
officer, but was found by his family among his 
papers after his death, and published a few years 
ago. An incident related by' the General in his 
report is worth reproducing here. The General 
states that his division was on the Confederate 
right and a mile or more from where the ex- 
plosion took place; that the same was not unex- 
pected, but just when and where it would occur 
no one could certainly tell; that on that morn- 
ing he was lying on the ground, and on hearing 
the noise sprang to his feet, looking in every di- 
rection to locate from whence the sound came, 
when he discovered a Confederate soldier at full 
speed coming towards him. The men along the 
line were endeavoring to stop him, but without 
success, so seeing the man was following a path 
which led near by where the General was stand- 
ing, he planted himself in the path of the fellow, 
who was without hat, cap, shoes or coat, and said : 
"Now stop long enough to tell me what has hap- 
pened." "Why, Mister," said the soldier, "don't 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 275 

you know that hell has busted?" Evidently this 
man thought the infernal regions had accidentally 
exploded. 

Between the lines of the two armies as now 
situated lay a strip of woods, where our men and 
the Union soldiers were in the habit of meeting 
to exchange newspapers, coffee and tobacco, now 
and then playing cards. Our officers on finding 
out what was going on concluded there was too 
much familiarity and sought to break it up; so 
when one of the officers located some of the men 
engaged in a game of cards with a Union soldier, 
this Federal was made a prisoner and brought into 
our lines. The Union soldier was highly indig- 
nant at what he considered taking advantage of 
confidence, for both parties by their acts had 
waived the fact that they were in the field as 
deadly foes to each other, and in their hearts our 
own men had a feeling of the same sort. A little 
later one of the Union soldiers, thinking to get 
even, induced a Confederate to meet him between 
the lines on pretense of exchanging papers, when 
he attempted his capture, but in the scramble the 
Confederate proved too much for his captor, 
dragging him toward our lines, when the Union 
pickets began firing at the Confederate, who let 
his man go and escaped. These incidents put a 



276 THE STORY OF 

stop for the time being to communication and 
traffic between the opposing soldiers. 

At another time some of our men under the 
lead of an officer, about daybreak crept over to 
the Federal skirmish line and between the men 
in their rifle pits, taking the line in flank and re- 
verse, and raked it for a long distance, bringing 
out more than a hundred prisoners, including the 
commanding officer of the line. 

How tender the fellow feeling of one soldier for 
another, though on opposite sides, is shown by 
the following incident : The Union soldiers, well 
knowing that we were scarce of food, at dusk one 
day called to one of our men, ''Say, Johnnie, are 
you hungry?'* "Yes," replied the Confederate, 
"have had but little to eat for two or three days," 
to which the Union soldier said, "Bring your 
haversack over here and I will take you to the 
sutler and fill it," but the Confederate demurred, 
giving as his reason that he was afraid he would 
be captured. Being assured, however, upon the 
honor of a soldier that he should have a safe re- 
turn, he went, and the Union soldier filled his 
haversack and returned him safely to our lines. 

The enemy was reported shifting about in our 
front beyond and behind the timber, where we 
could not see him, and supposing he might be 
preparing for an attack upon us, by order of the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 277 

Colonel, with Pitts of Company C and Crawford 
of Company D, I went to the front, outside our 
pickets, where I ran upon a scouting or observa- 
tion party of the enemy, by whom we were fired 
on, and came near being gobbled up, but escaped 
and returned within our lines. We had a close 
call. 

Wishing to visit some friends in Captain 
David A. French's artillery company, then sta- 
tioned near Chaffin's Bluff north of the James, 
three miles away, I obtained a pass and put off 
on September 28, spending the night with 
friends, finding myself the next morning almost 
in a hornet's nest, for on the morning of the 29th 
the Federal troops advanced and captured Fort 
Harrison, a mile to the front of the camp of 
French's company. I followed the battery, wit- 
nessing the fight, in which the Federals advanc- 
ing from Fort Harrison were repulsed. French 
lost several men, among them Adam Johnston, 
killed. I did not tarry long, but set out for my 
command, meeting on the way a part of our 
division, the 24th Virginia regiment among them, 
on their way to reinforce our troops in front of 
Fort Harrison, where they were defeated in the 
attempt to recapture the fort. 

As already stated, the line from the Howlett 
House to Swift Creek, some three miles in length, 



278 THE STORY OF 

was held by Pickett's division, four thousand 
strong; the skirmish Hne or rifle pits of the op- 
posing forces were close together, say 30 yards 
apart, and the main lines but a few hundred yards 
away. Our line was so thin and so drawn out 
that when thrown into the trenches it made 
scarcely more than a strong skirmish line. We 
were frequently in the trenches expecting attack, 
and the morning following the battle of Win- 
chester we were sure the enemy was coming, but 
he was content with firing a shotted salute. At 
this time desertions from our ranks, as well as 
from the ranks of the enemy, became more fre- 
quent and punishment more sure. Numbers of 
the enemy came into our lines and were sent to 
the rear and the same course was pursued by the 
enemy with men deserting from us. Now and 
then a man instead of going over to the enemy 
would go home and hide and when caught would 
be tried and shot. This happened to a mere boy, 
a member of Company B of our regiment, who 
was executed October 18, 1864. At this dis- 
tance from the war, a half century, such a thing 
may shock the reader, but war at best is a horri- 
ble thing and discipline must be enforced. It 
was not strange that some men deserted and 
went home. Many had families dependent on 
them for food and support. The soldier's pay 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 279 

for a month, in Confederate currency, with the 
necessaries of life advanced to enormous figures, 
would not buy a half bushel of wheat for his 
family. The cry of his children for bread 
reached his ears and this was more than his heart 
could bear. He became dissatisfied — anxious for 
the suffering ones at home. He was willing to 
bare his breast to the storm, and undergo the 
hardships and privations of camp life and the 
dangers of the battlefield, if he knew his wife and 
children were kept from starving, but their ap- 
peals for food moved him ; he would obtain leave 
to go if he could, otherwise he would go without 
leave; but it will be seen if this were permitted 
the army would soon be depleted, and the cause 
we were fighting for lost. The dilemma was 
therefore a trying one to many a good man. 

The Colonel of the 7th regiment, having in- 
structions tO' capture a prisoner to obtain cer- 
tain information wanted, and going to the skirm- 
ish line, where Company D under Captain Bane 
was on picket, instructed him to secure such pris- 
oner. Bane called for volunteers for this enter- 
prise and three men responded, among them John 
W. East, who agreed to capture the prisoner by 
playing the role of deserter, which he did by go- 
ing over to the enemy. The Federal picket called 
our men up next morning and told them Elast had 



280 THE STORY OF 

deserted the night before. This was no less than 
a ruse on John's part to desert and go over to 
the side of the enemy. 

Among the inducements offered by the Fed- 
eral officers to our men to desert was that if their 
homes were within the Federal lines they should 
be sent home and protected or given government 
employment at good wages, but love of cause and 
country were more potent than all the induce- 
ments offered on the other side. 

A. L. Sumner, of Company D, an illiterate 
man, heard someone read from a Richmond paper 
one morning in November, 1864, that Mr. Lin- 
coln had been re-elected president of the United 
States, and had called for a large number of ad- 
ditional men. Sumner sat with his head bowed, 
when a comrade approaching and seeing that 
something was troubling him, inquired the cause. 
Sumner responded, ''Don't you know that Abe 
Lincoln is re-elected and has called for a million 
men, and that Jeff Davis says war to the knife? 
What shall we do?" — A pertinent inquiry. 

Christmas, 1864, was approaching and exten- 
sive preparations were being made by city, town 
and country to furnish the army of Northern 
Virginia a Christmas dinner, the women taking 
the lead — God bless them ! The newspapers urged 
the movement forward, committees were ap- 
pointed to collect and forward the good things to 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 281 

the soldiers. The papers proclaimed that Virginia, 
devastated as she was by an invading host, was 
yet able to feed her soldiers; that the cattle upon 
a thousand hills were hers. Though the cattle 
were not there, the day came, and with it a boun- 
tiful supply which made us glad, and we thanked 
our benefactors and took courage. 

The credit for our Christmas dinner was due 
the women. In every movement for the uplift 
and betterment of our race, and in every worthy 
cause, woman is the first to espouse, the last to 
forsake. Having once fixed her affections upon 
the object of our cause, her love therefor became 
as fast and enduring as the rock-ribbed hills. The 
wives, mothers and sisters of the men gave their 
husbands, sons and brothers to the cause, suf- 
fered untold agony and sorrows, depriving them- 
selves of every comfort, to the end that the 
soldiers in the field might be clothed and fed. For 
them no sacrifice was too great. The Southern 
woman, accustomed to the indulgences and re- 
finements of life, became familiar with the coars- 
est of personal apparel, and a scarcity of food 
which she had never known, and she bore these 
things without a murmur. She followed the 
plow, reaped the grain, took it to the mill, nursed 
the sick and wounded, buried the dead, and 
rendered thousands of kindnesses to our suffer- 



282 THE STORY OF 

ing soldiers, only recorded in the hearts and 
memories of the recipients of these loving deeds, 
and of Him whose eye is never shut. In the days 
of "reconstruction," when men were awe stricken, 
not knowing whither to look or what to do, these 
women stood with resolute trust in God, giving 
words of encouragement to the sterner sex; and 
became, as it were, the strong vine entwined 
around the sturdy tree when shaken by the storm. 
These Southern women were the only portion 
of our people who never surrendered. They are 
today the purest type of Anglo-Saxon woman- 
hood on the face of the earth. 

Memorial Day originated with our Southern 
women, whose custom it is to strew flow^ers, 
mementoes of their undying love, on the graves 
of the gray and the blue alike. They are the 
guardians of the graves of our noble dead. 

'This place of burial is 

Hallowed by woman's prayers; 

A nobler epitaph than this 
Could not be theirs." 

Things now began to look dark. General 
Sherman was marching through Georgia to the 
sea; Hood's army had been defeated at Nash- 
ville. The situation was grave in the extreme. 
With all this came strange presentiments. The 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 283 

dark clouds that had been for some time over- 
hanging us were settling down. The patriotism, 
enthusiasm and untold sacrifices of the past four 
years seemed all for naught, and our men could 
not be required to shoulder a heavier cross than 
was now the lot of the Confederate soldiers. But 
a patriotic people and a valiant soldiery might yet 
accomplish success, looking we were, but in vain, 
for foreign intervention, or something else to 
turn up. If to satisfy the Northern people and 
gain our separate existence meant to give up 
slavery, the army was ready to see it abolished. 
In fact, the great bulk of the army was ready to 
make almost any sacrifice required for indepen- 
dent and separate government. Our forefathers 
had resisted British tyranny, we were resisting 
Northern aggression upon the sovereignty and 
reserved rights of the States of the Confederacy. 

Dark and discouraging as were these days, the 
spirit of the army was yet unbroken, and the 
men were willing to fight it out, although it ap- 
peared but a question of time when we should all 
go down. 

Thus closed the year of 1864, and to us it 
seemed final overthrow must come, for our foe 
was growing stronger, we weaker. Our star was 
surely on the wane. 



Chapter XXIV 



Religion in the Army. 

Doctors Pryor, Fontaine, Stiles. 

General Pendleton, 

Young Men's Christian Association. 

Frazier, Our Preaching-Fighting Chaplain. 



MY PRESENTATION of the subject of 
religion in the army will necessarily be 
confined to the command to which I be- 
longed and what came under my personal ob- 
servation. When the call to arms was made in 
1 86 1, the sentiment of our people was a solemn 
appeal to God for the rectitude of our intentions 
and purposes, an appeal to the God of battles for 
His abiding presence and blessing upon our un- 
dertaking. Nearly every step taken was witnessed 
by religious services. Our whole Southland was 
permeated with the spirit and teachings of the 
Bible. The brave people of our land believed in 
God — indeed, the foundations of their state gov- 
ernment were based upon their faith in the Author 
of their lives and liberty. This was no mere 
phantom. Most of our great leaders were 
Christian men, who feared and worshipped God. 
At the beginning of the war we had many 
wild, profane men who had joined the army, but 
from this it must not be inferred that our camps 
were scenes of vulgarity, and profanity. With 
but few exceptions, after the first year or so of 
the war, there was never an army freer from 
vice, immorality and anger. That which in the 
beginning would have been offensive and insult- 



288 THE STORY OF 

ing, and probably brought the parties to blows, 
was now passed by. The men had come to un- 
derstand each other's temperaments. They had 
lived, associated, marched, fought, slept and 
eaten together too long, had suffered in common 
too many hardships, enduring the same priva- 
tions, not to know each other's Christian convic- 
tions. They were therefore ''Souls that had but 
a single thought, and hearts that beat as one." 
They were, with a true Christian spirit, ready to 
bear each other's burdens, care for each other 
when sick or wounded, comfort each other when 
in trouble and distress, and therefore the better 
prepared to entertain the "King of Peace." 

Many of the men of my company, some of 
whom I have already mentioned, were Christians 
when they entered the army, and by their ex- 
ample and character exerted a wholesome in- 
fluence for good. When resting in camp, these 
men remembered their vows, conducting religious 
exercises in their quarters before retiring at night. 
On Sunday we usually had services, led by the 
Chaplains, who were zealous Christians, and 
patriotic men, even going into battle with us. 
One, Dr. Cranberry, chaplain of the nth Vir- 
ginia, and after the war a Methodist Bishop, was 
wounded in the battle of Seven Pines. In the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 289 

absence of the regular chaplain, Brother Frazier, 
acting as such, preached to us. 

Near the close of 1862, and throughout the 
greater part of the year of 1863, a religious spirit 
seemed to possess the army ; at least this was true 
of our command. Christians had great reason to 
thank God and take courage when they thought 
on the remarkable progress the gospel was mak- 
ing in the camp. Thousands of young men em- 
braced religion. While churches at home were 
languishing, the gospel was moving forward 
with marvelous strides among the soldiers in the 
field. Indeed, what could be more fitting, with 
real men accustomed daily to witnessing carnage 
and death. There was therefore much comfort 
to the men in having the gospel successfully 
preached and the standard of the Master borne 
aloft in the trenches, in sight of the enemy, even 
within musket and cannon's range. At the ad- 
ministration of the baptismal ordinance, the 
banks of the Rappahannock, Rapidan and the 
James and other streams resounded with the songs 
of praise. Our chaplains often proclaimed the 
glad tidings amid the noise of the booming cannon 
and rattle of musketry. This spirit was caught 
by our division at Taylorsville in the spring of 
1863, when Dr. Pryor of Petersburg preached 
for us for several days in succession, hundreds 



290 THE STORY OF 

professing faith in Christ. The whole camp was 
one religious gathering, and all men seemed 
greatly interested. There was a grand and glori- 
ous awakening. Many in the Spring of 1863 
found the blessed Savior precious, to their souls 
and rejoiced in His love, I among the number. 

When on the march to Gettysburg, halting for 
a day or more, religious exercises were con- 
ducted; scarcely would the column halt at night 
and supper over before the sacred songs began; 
around those singing would gather the soldiers 
in large numbers, the chaplain, or someone else, 
conducting the exercises. This was continued 
during the fall of 1863, in Culpeper, on the 
Rapidan, again at Taylorsville, in North Car- 
olina, in Virginia, near Hanover Junction, around 
Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, and on the south of 
the James, where Drs. Stiles and Fontaine were 
occasionally with us. The latter, Rev. P. H. Fon- 
taine, a minister of the Baptist Church, visited 
us in September, 1864, preaching successfully for 
several days; many desiring baptism going to a 
small branch close by our line in a ravine, where 
a dam was constructed, furnishing sufficient 
water to bury a man in baptism, as was our 
Savior in the Jordan, a comforting scene to many 
wearied and homesick hearts. On Monday, 
September 12, 1864, Mr. Fontaine baptized a 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 291 

large number of soldiers on their profession of 
faith — how many I do not recollect, but of our 
company two, Tim P. Darr and the writer. Darr 
became a Methodist preacher, dying last year 
(191 3) in the State of Kentucky. 

The army of Northern Virginia by the close of 
the year 1864 had in large measure become a band 
of Christian soldiers, God-fearing men. Amid 
the trying scenes, shoeless, in tattered rags, hun- 
gry, chilled by the cold, they gathered, if oppor- 
tunity offered, and on bended knees asked God to 
comfort their homes and little ones, to bless our 
arms with success and to crown our efforts with 
early peace and stable government. 

The venerable Doctor Stiles and General Pen- 
dleton — the latter an Episcopal minister and the 
chief of artillery of the army of Northern Vir- 
ginia — occasionally preached to the troops. 
Through the instrumentality of J. Tyler Frazier 
there was organized a Young Men's Christian 
Association, of Kemper's brigade, into which was 
largely incorporated all the professing Christians 
in the brigade. It met regularly when not on the 
march, and among the articles of the constitution 
was one providing that if any member of the 
Association should desert or absent himself from 
his command without leave, he should be ex- 
cluded. The Association stood pledged to dis- 



292 THE STORY OF 

courage desertions or insubordination, and on 
the other hand to encourage obedience and 
fideHty to cause and country ; by all means within 
its power to diffuse religious thought and morality 
throughout the brigade. While on the Bermuda 
Hundred line, the men built a church in which 
religious services were held, and which was also 
used as a place of entertainment. 

J. Tyler Frazier, whose name has been fre- 
quently mentioned in this narrative, deserves a 
more extended notice. Mr. Frazier was born in 
Giles County, Virginia, in the year 1840, embrac- 
ing Christianity at an early age. His early op- 
portunities for acquiring an education were quite 
limited, but being a man of exceptionally good 
sense, a preacher when he entered the army — 
the company chaplain, did his duty nobly and 
well. By precept and example upon all proper 
occasions he endeavored to impress upon the men 
the importance of living a Christian life. Notice 
has already been taken of some of his messmates, 
Taylor, Henderson, Fortner, Darr and others, 
God-fearing men. Mr. Frazier preached when- 
ever opportunity offered, not only to the com- 
pany, regiment and brigade, but to the people of 
the region roundabout. The chaplaincy of the 
regiment being vacant, the Young Men's Christian 
Association desired the appointment of Mr. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 293 

Frazier to the vacancy, naming a committee con- 
sisting of Thomas S. Taylor (who died in this 
year, 191 4), Edward Hoge (now dead), and 
David E. Johnston, to take up the matter with 
the Colonel, but our mission failed because the 
commander felt that a man could not be spared 
from the ranks who was so good a soldier as 
Brother Frazier. We secured, however, the priv- 
ilege for Mr. Frazier to preach where and when 
he pleased, having his musket and accouterments 
transported in headquarters wagon, the only re- 
quirement being demanded that he should take his 
gun and go into battle. Mr. Frazier was as use- 
ful as chaplain without a commission as with it, 
for he still continued to preach, pray, march and 
fight, to exhort and encourage men to do their 
duty to God and their country. He was spared 
and returned home, entered the regular Meth- 
odist ministry of the Southern Methodist Church, 
has been a presiding elder, a successful preacher, 
and still lives to bless humanity. He now re- 
sides on his fine estate near Chilhowie, Virginia, 
preaching regularly, esteemed and highly re- 
spected by his brethren, old comrades, friends and 
neighbors. 

In closing this chapter, I may be permitted 
with genuineness of purpose to add a final word 
to the sons and daughters, descendants of the 



294 THE STORY OF 

noble Confederate soldiers of Virginia, whom I 
deeply loved, and of whom I have endeavored, 
though with much imperfection, to write in 
these pages. 

Another warfare is today calling you to the 
field. I have seen much of life and know the 
fruits of vice and shame, the danger of gilded 
pitfalls and deceptive traps which are set for you 
and your children. I beg of you not to think of 
this as idle talk on my part. You are in im- 
minent danger of the captivity from which there 
is no return. For your safety the Great Leader 
is calling you to join His forces, to enlist in His 
cause. This Leader has never known defeat, has 
never lost a soldier. If you are in His service, 
your name is enrolled on high. If you are faith- 
ful, you will not be overlooked nor forgotten. 
If you have not given Him your life and every- 
thing belonging to you, I beg you not to delay. 
Your father obeyed our country's call in 1861. 
It is fitting now that you obey the gospel call into 
the noblest army earth has ever known. More 
than once did I look into the faces of your noble 
sires, as they stood at Sharpsburg, Gettysburg 
and Cold Harbor, in defense of the right. I 
think of the courage with which they followed the 
old flag, and I love you for their sakes. I pray 
God that each of you may honor the memory of 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 295 

those fathers by being brave and steadfast soldiers 
of the Cross; that you may have a place in the 
ranks of that great army composed of the pure 
and the good on earth and in heaven. 



Chapter XXV 



From January, 1865, to Close of Battle of Five 
Forks. 

Gloomy Outlook at the Opening of the Year. 

The Peace Commissioners. 

Spirit of the Army. 

A. S. Fry as Regimental Clerk a'nd Historian. 

Trouble in Company D. 

Activity Within the Federal Lines. 

General Pendleton's Speech. 

Early's Small Force Defeated at Waynesboro. 

Sheridan's Raid. 



WHILE near Swift Creek, A. L. Fry of 
Company D was appointed clerk and 
regimental historian, making a complete 
roll of the men of the regiment, noting their serv- 
ices, for which he received a short furlough. The 
record made by Fry was filed away in Richmond, 
but unfortunately was destroyed by fire on the 
evacuation of the city by the Confederate troops. 
This was indeed a calamity, for such a record 
would now, after half a century, be of priceless 
value. The record of many a poor fellow which 
was thus lost cannot be had anywhere else. 

We changed position from near Swift Creek 
to the Howlett House on the James in January, 
1865, where we erected rude shacks of timber 
and earth which furnished slight shelter from 
the pelting storms. Near the middle of the 
month the weather softened, and we were en- 
abled to get out and engage in ball and other 
games, which gave us exercise and good appetites, 
though ordinarily we were ready to eat anything 
we could get, for at that time our daily allow- 
ance was one-fourth pound of bacon and one pint 
of coarse cornmeal, with occasionally a little 
sugar, rice, beans or peas. 

The period was still gloomy. Fort McAllister 



300 THE STORY OF 

had fallen, Savannah was in the hands of the 
enemy, Charleston and Fort Fisher seriously 
threatened ; Hood's army had been wrecked and 
driven out of Tennessee; General Sherman was 
preparing to march through the Carolinas. Gen- 
eral Grant had seized the Petersburg and Weldon 
railroad and was now threatening to strike the 
south side and Richmond and Danville road — the 
latter being the only remaining line connecting 
Richmond with the Southern states, over which 
our supplies must be drawn. The situation was 
therefore serious. This was fully realized by 
the men in the ranks. Vastly superior territory, 
unlimited supplies, and a call for 300,000 new 
troops in the North were calculated to produce 
discouragement in the hearts of men who had 
from the first been fighting against heavy odds. 
Desertions became more frequent; many men 
were absent without leave, on account of needy 
families and other causes, and were in no hurry 
to return. All these things were discussed by 
the soldiers in their huts. The army of North- 
ern Virginia now consisted of less than fifty 
thousand poorly equipped, poorly clad, poorly fed 
men, who had marched and countermarched, 
charged and fought a foe two or three times their 
number for nearly four long, dreadful years. It 
was little wonder, therefore, that depression came 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 301 

to the noble army of Northern Virginia, which 
then held the toe line from a point north of Fort 
Harrison to the vicinity of Hatcher's Run to the 
south, more than thirty-five miles — in many 
places little more than a good skirmish line, which 
the enemy was able to confront with full lines, 
and yet overreaching our flanks, and was con- 
tinuing to extend his lines. Why General Grant 
did not cut loose from his base at City Point and 
swing around the Confederate right, shutting the 
army up in Petersburg and Richmond, is a mili- 
tary problem I will not endeavor to solve. 

I was in Richmond in January, 1865, and saw 
bread selling at $2.00 for a small loaf; a pound 
of soda for $12.00; a calico dress pattern, $25.00, 
a gold dollar commanding $60.00 in Confederate 
currency. 

The mission of the Confederate "Peace Com- 
missioners" had been a failure, and a great dis- 
appointment to the soldiers, who saw plainly 
nothing short of a bitter fight to the end. Public 
meetings of the men were held in many of the 
commands in the army, resolutions adopted, ex- 
pressing regret at the failure of the Peace Con- 
ference, reaffirming their faith in the justness of 
our cause, and rededicating themselves to the de- 
fense thereof, resolving to fight to the end. Surely 
heroism and desperation equal to this, cannot be 



302 THE STORY OF 

found in the annals of history. With this situa- 
tion confronting- them, they demanded that all 
absentees should be returned to their places, all 
able bodied men should be required to take the 
field, and that every step possible should be taken 
to strengthen the army, even to the arming of 
the negroes — a thing which should have been 
done long before this. 

In order to give some conception of the feel- 
ing and sentiment which then pervaded the 
soldiers, I here insert an extract from a letter 
written a friend in February, 1865, in which I 
say : *There is nothing left us but to fight it out ; 
the cry is for war — war to the knife. If the peo- 
ple at home will support the army and drive all 
skulkers and absentees to the front, all will be 
right." 

Amid the darkness and gloom surrounding 
us, some of the men would have fun. I well re- 
member that W. D. Peters, of D Company, a 
wit and wag, having around him several of his 
comrades, inquired as to how the Southern Con- 
federacy was bounded. One answered, "North 
by the United States, south by the Gulf of Mexico, 
east by the Atlantic Ocean, west by the Rocky 
Mountains." Peters insisted this to be a mistake, 
saying that ''we were surrounded by Yankees!" 

The general sentiment in the army favored 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 303 

freeing all negroes who would take arms and 
fight for the country. To this, singularly enough, 
came opposition from men who did not and never 
had owned a slave. The proposition to arm the 
negroes did not find favor with the politicians, 
but they were finally forced to yield, late ini the 
Spring of 1865, on the eve of the retreat of the 
army of Northern Virginia from the Richmond- 
Petersburg lines. 

While on the lines near Howlett House, a squad 
went out between the skirmish lines to gather 
fuel; among the number was Adam Thompson, 
who had so large a foot that special requisition 
had to be made to get shoes big enough for him ; 
the shoes for Adam had to be made to order. On 
the occasion referred to, Adam deserted to the 
enemy, when a Union soldier called out, "John- 
nie! Have you another man over there three feet 
across the back and who wears a number two 
shoe — two hides to the shoe?" 

I here relate an incident happening on this line 
while at the Howlett House, which caused much 
grief, growing out, as I believe, of misinforma- 
tion and misunderstanding, whereby three of the 
best soldiers of Company D — A. J. Thompson, 
Harry Snidow and J. C. Hughes — were arrested 
upon a charge of encouraging insubordination and 
mutiny, of which they were convicted and 



304 THE STORY OF 

sentenced to be shot, and pending the approval of 
General Lee (which was never had, so far as 1 
know), were incarcerated in ''Castle Thunder" 
in Richmond, from which they were only re- 
leased by the Union army on entering the city 
April 3, 1865. In the opinion of the writer, who 
knew these three men, al) sergeants, through and 
through, this proceeding was excessive and un- 
warranted. Surely three long years of untiring 
devotion and loyalty to the cause for which we 
fought should be counted worth something. 

General Pendleton, the chief of artillery of the 
army, visited our lines the middle of March and 
made a speech, in which he said, 'The time is 
rapidly approaching for the opening of the cam- 
paign, and that man Grant over there means mis- 
chief. Only with a union of strong arms and 
brave hearts can we hope to win. Rack your 
haversacks and be ready to move." There was 
now great activity within the lines of the enemy ; 
the whistle of the locomotive, the inclination and 
the action of the enemy to crowd us, all pointed 
to an early movement, but the question con- 
fronted us — What are we to do? Can we get 
away and how far? Not a mule nor horse that 
can pull a hundred pounds five miles through 
the mud. It was suggested, let us go south and 
join General Joe Johnston, unite forces with him. 




Brigadier-General David E. Johnston 
and Aid-de-Camp D. E. J. Wilson 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 305 

whip Grant and then Sherman. Some said one 
thing, some another, but all agreed that if Rich- 
mond had to be given up, it were better it had 
been abandoned the fall before, when our trans- 
portation was in better shape and our army 
numerically stronger, and General Grant's not in 
such good condition, not yet having recovered 
from its bloody campaign from the Rapidan to 
Petersburg, and not so confident as now. 

In March, 1865, at night, our division was 
withdrawn from the lines, Mahone's division tak- 
ing our place. We were hurried up to Richmond 
to the outer intrenchments north of the city to 
meet the Federal General Sheridan's cavalry corps 
of 10,000 men, which a few days before had over- 
whelmed the little band of about 1500 men of 
General Early in the valley near Waynesboro, and 
were now rapidly approaching Richmond by way 
of Charlottesville. Near Ashland Corse's brigade 
had a brisk skirmish with Sheridan's advance. It 
was apparent that General Sheridan had no 
thought of attacking Richmond (he was never 
known to attack unless he had the advantage) but 
had crossed the Chickahominy and was making 
his way to join the main army south of the James. 



Chapter XXVI 



South of the James. 

Battles of Dinwiddie and Five Forks. 

The Retreat. 



WE WERE hastened through Richmond 
and to the south of the James, marching 
to the South Side railroad west of 
Petersburg, thence on to Sutherland Station, 
reaching there at 9 P. M., Wednesday, March 29, 
and going forward through an all night's rain, 
arriving at the White Oak road at dawn, where 
a portion of General Bushrod Johnson's division 
was in line of battle, with a brisk skirmish prog- 
ressing in front. Three brigades of Pickett's 
division, Corse's, Stuart's and Terry's, with Ran- 
som's and Wallace's — the last two now consoli- 
dated under General Ransom — extended the bat- 
tle line of Johnson's division to the right. Here 
we remained until the middle of the afternoon, a 
heavy rain falling during the greater part of the 
time, our skirmishers having an occasional brush 
with the enemy. The column then moved for- 
ward along the road in the direction of Five 
Forks, skirmishing front and flank, reaching the 
Forks at sunset; without halting, Corse's brigade, 
and the ist and 7th regiments of Terry's, ad- 
vanced, driving the dismounted cavalry of the 
enemy through and out of the woods and across 
the open country beyond; then returning to the 
Forks, lay down under a pelting rain upon the 



310 THE STORY OF 

wet ground until morning, thus in line ready to 
fight or march. 

It was lo A. M., Friday, March 31, that the 
advance began in the direction of Dinwiddie 
Court House, the cavalry in our front fighting at 
every step, crossing Chamberlain Run, and being 
driven back, as the infantry was unable to afford 
them help on account of the swollen condition of 
the stream. Finally, at the remains of an old 
mill on the Run, the infantry succeeded in getting 
over, in the face of a sharp fire from the enemy, 
with whom, as soon as across the stream, w^e kept 
up a running fight until near sunset. When near 
the Court House we encountered a large body of 
the enemy's dismounted cavalry formed across 
the road prepared to oppose our further advance. 
A Federal battery of artillery in their center com- 
manded the ground over which the advance had to 
be made, but we made a successful charge, sweep- 
ing the field, the enemy retiring in confusion, 
leaving their dead and wounded, we occupying 
the battlefield until nearly i o'clock next morning. 

In this engagement, known as the battle of 
Dinwiddie, the famous cavalry officer. General 
Phil Sheridan, with all his brag, was scared out 
of his boots — calling that night on General Grant 
for an army corps of infantry to help him out of 
the scrape, although he already had more men 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 311 

on the field than the Confederates who were as- 
sailing him. 

Humanity, the crowning grace of the brave 
soldier, secured for the wounded — the enemy's 
as well as our own — all the care and attention we 
were able to give them. Our loss had not been 
heavy, especially was it small in our regiment — 
none in Company D. General Terry's horse was 
struck by a cannon shot, which caused it to fall 
with the General, giving him quite a severe in- 
jury.* 

Near midnight, or a little later, March 31, the 
Confederates retired to Five Forks, five miles 
away, taking position in battle line, and hastily 
throwing up temporary breastworks of logs. W. 
H. F. Lee's cavalry was on the right, then the 
infantry brigades, Corse, Terry, Steuart, Ran- 
som-Wallace, in the order named, with a portion 
of Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry under General Mun- 
ford on the left. Terry's brigade held the ground 
immediately on the right of the Forks, with the 
left of the 7th Virginia resting at the Forks, at 
which was posted three guns of Colonel William 
Pegram's Virginia battalion of artillery. The 
enemy did not appear in force in our front until 
nearly 10 A. M. next day. 



♦On account of Gen'l Terry's injury, Col. Jo Mayo 
of the Third Regiment was in command of the brigade 
at Five Forks. 



312 THE STORY OF 

Five Forks is situated in a thickly wooded, 
flat, wet country, and gets its name from the 
crossing of two country roads at right angles, 
with the deflection of another road bisecting one 
of these angles ; the last place that a general with 
a small force would desire to meet a large force, 
or select his ground upon which to fight a de- 
fensive battle, because it was in an open country. 
This position could be easily turned, and a small 
force easily isolated from the main army at 
Petersburg, which the enemy, in fact, did by 
throwing General Warren's infantry corps, nearly 
15,000 strong, against the Confederate left, be- 
tween it and the right wing of our army. This 
point could only have been necessary to hold to 
protect the South Side railroad, and for this 
reason may have been regarded strategic, but it 
could not be held by a small force, if an enemy in 
superior numbers chose to turn it, who had the 
advantage of approach from two or more of the 
five roads converging there. 

Privates Crawford and Dudley of Company D 
were on the skirmish line. After several unsuc- 
cessful attempts by the Federal skirmishers to 
drive in ours, they concluded to try something 
stronger. In the meantime Crawford had his 
musket stock at the small part thereof severed and 
he came back to the main line, procured another, 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 313 

and returned to his place with the skirmishers. 
By this time the Federal battle line, composed 
partly of dismounted cavalry, was advancing-, and 
soon overran our skirmishers, killing-, wounding 
and capturing nearly the whole of them, coming 
with a rush at our main line, by which they were 
severely punished and repelled. These attacks 
were several times repeated along our whole 
brigade front, each time being repulsed with 
loss to the enemy and with little to us. Warren's 
infantry corps, having placed itself near the mid- 
dle of the afternoon around and beyond the Con- 
federate left, advancing boldly struck Ransom's 
and Wallace's brigades in flank, doubling them 
up and pushing them to us in the center. Steuart's 
and Terry's brigades now moved out of their in- 
trenched line and with a fierce, determined fight 
met the oncoming battle against more than 
15,000 with less than two thousand. In the na- 
ture of things this could not and did not last 
long, but it did last until the moon was up and 
the evening shades had fallen. This scribe, it 
will be remembered, was still only a boy, and re- 
members distinctly Colonel Flowerree saying, 
"Now, boys, in marching away follow that moon.** 
This because we were in a country unknown to 
us or to our commander. Our brigade was in 
conflict with Ayers' Federal division, which was 



314 THE STORY OF 

massed in column, firing over each other and too 
high, thus accounting for our small regimental 
and brigade loss in killed and wounded. 

Before being withdrawn from our intrenched 
line to meet the flank attack of Warren's corps, 
Colonel Pegram of the artillery fell on the left of 
our regiment, mortally wounded. The 7th regi- 
ment, numbering less than 300 men, under the 
fearless Colonel Flowerree, was thrown into the 
breach to stem the tide, but after a few minutes 
of close, almost hand-to-hand struggle, it left the 
field, not however, before being ordered three 
times by the Colonel to do so. 

In the woods where we were fighting it was 
getting dark, the moon beginning to shine. My 
position as Sergeant-Major was on the left of the 
regiment, which I occupied during the fierce 
contest. Seeing the regiment move rapidly by 
the right flank and to the rear, but in good or- 
der, I stood for a moment reflecting whether I 
should leave or take the chances of death or be- 
coming a prisoner. Choosing the former, and 
passing the road over which we had fought our 
way a few minutes before, I found myself with 
two Confederates, who were a little in advance 
of me, and proceeding but a short distance we 
found ourselves plump up against the lines of 
Federal cavalry. A Sergeant demanded our sur- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 315 

render, the Confederate nearest him threw down 
his gun; the one next to me turned and said, 
''What shall we do?" I still had the carbine I 
had picked up the day before in the battle near 
Dinwiddie, but no ammunition, and without re- 
plying to the question or dropping my gun, but 
keeping my eyes fixed on the sergeant, who was 
separated by a small space from his comrades as 
well as from me, I observed that his cap had been 
knocked off by the limb of a pine bush under 
which he had ridden, and that his attention was 
fixed upon an effort to get his cap. Just then 
seeing an opening where the Federal regiments 
joined, I darted through, amidst a shower of 
bullets, the wind and heat of some of them being 
felt distinctly in my face. The reader may easily 
imaging the speed made just then by a Confed- 
erate Sergeant-Major. In less than two hundred 
yards beyond, I overtook my command forming 
across the road. 

Here Generals Pickett, Corse, Steuart, Ransom 
and Colonel Mayo were urging the men to get 
quickly into line, Pickett in the midst of the fire 
behaving with his usual gallantry and coolness. In 
the middle of the road stood the ensign of the ist 
Virginia regiment, with his colors and guard, 
with Gentry and his Glee Club, singing, "Rally 
Round the Flag, Boys, Rally Once Again" — and 



316 THE STORY OF 

rally they did, although badly mixed, but in a 
few minutes partial order was restored, not a 
moment too soon, for the enemy was coming. 
The position now held was not more than four 
hundred yards from the Forks. As yet, the 
enemy had gained but little ground, though he 
had captured a large number of prisoners, prin- 
cipally of Ransom's, Wallace's and Steuart's 
brigades, and of the nth and the 24th Virginia of 
Terry's brigade. The enemy now bore down 
heavily upon our right front, advancing through 
an open field, we being in a skirt of woods, from 
which we sent into them a murderous volley. The 
smoke clearing away, it was revealed that his 
whole line had been shattered, large numbers of 
his dead and wounded on the ground, the living 
fleeing in full haste. In the meantime the enemy 
had thrown a heavy force around both the Con- 
federate flanks, threatening to envelop us be- 
tween his columns, and cutting our line of re- 
treat, forming something of the shape of a horse- 
shoe, we being in the toe, having the heel open, 
as the only chance to get out. This gap in the 
heel was much broadened by a charge ol the Con- 
federate cavalry on the right. It was now dark, 
the command badly scattered, and almost sur- 
rounded by the enemy. We moved to the rear 
as rapidly as possible, and those remaining not 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 317 

killed, wounded or captured, made their way 
across the South Side railroad, where camp was 
made. 

This was one of the most fiercely and best con- 
tested battles of the war, disparity of numbers 
considered. It can be safely and truthfully as- 
serted by those present who witnessed what oc- 
curred that never were troops placed in a more 
trying situation — outflanked on both wings, .at- 
tacked front flank and rear, by a force fully four 
times their numbers, in a comparatively flat, open 
country, away from supports, without shelter 
save rude log breastworks, hastily thrown up, oc- 
cupied for a short time during the fight, which 
was as close as fearless men could make it. There 
was no panic, for the men rallied and fought 
again and again, until dark, when the enemy de- 
sisted. Much of the fighting was so close that 
there was a question as to who would be the 
victors. 

General Grant in his Memoirs says of this bat- 
tle : "It was dusk when our troops under Sheri- 
dan went over the parapets of the enemy. The 
two armies were mingled together there for a 
time in such manner that it was almost a question 
which one was going to demand the surrender 
of the other." 

It now appears that the army of the enemy on 



318 THE STORY OF 

the field numbered above 26,000, while I am sat- 
isfied we could not have had exceeding 8000 men 
at the opening of the battle. We had the con- 
solidated brigades of Ransom and Wallace, about 
1000; Steuart's brigade, about 1000; Corse's 
brigade, about 11 00; Terry's brigade, about 900; 
cavalry, 3500, and artillerists 300; Rosser's cav- 
alry division guarding the trains, not in the battle. 

The Federal loss was 124 killed and 706 
wounded; the Confederate loss, 450 killed, 750 
wounded. The Confederates lost four guns, 
eleven colors and 3244 prisoners, a loss which 
the reader will see from statements made was by 
us sorely felt. 

I do not know the division, brigade or regi- 
mental losses, but they were severe in the regi- 
ment, while Company D lost but six men — 
Crawford, Dudley, Sumner and Mullins, as pris- 
oners. John A. Hale and William D. Peters 
severely wounded, both got off the field. Captain 
Bane, Lieutenant Taylor and the following men : 
Bolton, Crawford, Darr, Dudley, Eaton, Frazier, 
Fry, Gordon, Hale (J. A.), Henderson, Hurt 
(J. J.), Meadows, Mullins, Minnich (C), Min- 
nich (G. A.), Peters, Shannon, Stafford, Sum- 
ner, Suthern, Wiley, Yager and the writer^ — 25 — 
were all the men and officers of Company D in 
this battle of Five Forks. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 319 

In Warren's swing around our left he had 
killed, wounded and captured a large part of our 
dismounted cavalry on that wing, practically the 
whole of the brigades of Ransom and Wallace 
and a large part of Steuart's. After this capture 
we could not have had more than 4500 men left, 
who kept up and maintained the fight until 6 
o'clock P. M. It was simply a yielding to over- 
whelming numbers, and the strangest thing of 
all is that we were not all captured or killed. It 
was within the power of the Federals at any time 
after 4 o'clock P. M. to have made prisoners of 
us all, and nothing but bad Federal generalship 
and the protection of God saved us, for the Union 
army were brave enough. There is no doubt 
about Sheridan's men fighting; they were men 
many of whom for gallant conduct had been 
taken from other arms of the service and placed 
in the cavalry. They were brave, reckless, and 
withal generous foes. 

In closing this account of the battle of Five 
Forks I here insert some extracts from General 
Lx)ngstreet's book, ''Bull Run to Appomattox." 
Speaking of Warren's flank movement and after 
Ransom's and Wallace's brigades had been broken 
up, he says : "The brigades of Steuart and Terry 
changed front and received the rolling battle. . . 
the Confederate brigades were pushed back to 



320 THE STORY OF 

their extreme right, where in turn Corse's brigade 
changed front to receive the march." Again: 
'The position was not of General Pickett's 
choosing, and from his orders he assumed he 
would be reinforced. His execution was all that 
a skilful commander could apply. . . . Though 
taken by surprise, there was no panic in any part 
of the command; brigade after brigade changed 
front to the left and received the overwhelming 
battle as it rolled on until it was crushed back to 
the next, before it could deploy out to aid the 
front — or flank attack, until the last brigade of 
the brave Corse changed and stood alone on the 

left It is not claiming too much for that 

grand division to say that, aided by the brigades 
of Ransom and Wallace, they could not have 
been dislodged from their intrenched position by 
parallel battle, even by the great odds against 
them. As it was, Ayer's division, staggered un- 
der the pelting blows that it met, and Crawford's 
drifted from the blows against it, until it thus 
found the key of the battle away beyond the Con- 
federate limits. In generalship Pickett was not 
a bit below the 'gay rider.' His defensive battle 
was better organized, and it is possible that he 
would have gained the day if his cavalry had been 
diligent in giving information of the movements 
of the enemy." 



Chapter XXVII 



21 



The Retreat. 

Battle of Sailor's Creek. 

Captured. 



EARLY in the morning of Sunday, April 2, 
we marched from our camp near South 
Side railway into the main road leading 
west to Amelia Court House. Reaching this 
road, we found portions of Heth's and Wilcox's 
divisions moving along the same, by whom we 
were informed that our lines around Petersburg 
had been broken and they cut off from the rest 
of the army. 

We pushed on that day, learning en route that 
General A. P. Hill had been killed before Peters- 
burg. We went into camp near Deep Creek, hun- 
gry and conscious of loss, both in the breaking of 
the lines at Petersburg and in the death of sturdy, 
gallant A. P. Hill — and still there was no mur- 
muring. 

During the forenoon on Monday the enemy's 
cavalry came up with our rear guard, when 
some brisk skirmishing occurred. We passed 
Deep Creek near 2 P. M., the enemy pressing 
closely. Late in the evening we received a scanty 
supply of rations, the first since March 29 — four 
days. Beyond Deep Creek a short distance we 
went into camp; moving next morning on the 
road to Amelia Court House, but the enemy had 
been there ahead of us, had made an attack upon 



324 THE STORY OF 

a wagon train, and were driven off by the team- 
sters and stragglers, leaving their dead and some 
of their woimded on the streets. Here we heard 
of the evacuation of Richmond. This, though 
looked for, brought deep gloom over not a few 
of the men, who for more than three years had 
not faltered in hope of ultimate success. From 
the time Amelia Court House was left at noon on 
the 4th until Thursday, the 6th, at the close of 
the battle of Sailor's Creek, there was scarcely an 
hour, day or night, that we were not engaged 
in skirmishing wath the enemy. They were 
on the flank, and everywhere, after our be- 
leaguered troops. We were forced to halt and 
form line of battle, once or more a square, to 
prevent capture. The march was necessarily 
slow on account of the wagon and artillery trains, 
which moved at a snail's pace through the mud, 
drawn by famished animals, which had had but 
little food for days. While soldiers may live for 
a time on enthusiasm, mules and horses must have 
corn or oats. As for ourselves, we were with- 
out food, save a little parched corn, when we 
could stop long enough to parch it ; otherwise we 
took it raw, shelling it from the cob and eating 
it as we marched. The small ration issued to us 
at Deep Creek had only been sufficient for one 
square meal. Many of the men were overcome 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 325 

with fatigue, hunger and want of sleep, some 
actually going to sleep walking along, stumbling 
and falling in the road. No food was to be had 
in the country along the road upon which we were 
marching, as the people had been stripped of ev- 
erything in the way of food by those who had pre- 
ceded us. It was unsafe to venture far from the 
command on account of the enemy's cavalry now 
on all the roads, and many of our men were made 
prisoners by going away from the line of march 
in search of food. We halted for rest but once 
during the night of Wednesday, the 5th, then only 
for a few minutes, in line of battle, for the enemy 
was close upon us. 

It was the general expression that if all of our 
marchings, sufferings, hardships, privations and 
sacrifices for all of the preceding years of the 
war were summed up, shaken together and 
pressed down, they would not equal those we were 
now undergoing on this tramp. 

At daylight on Thursday, April 6, a point was 
reached near Sailor's Creek, a small tributary of 
the Appomattox, a short distance from High 
Bridge, and probably ten miles from Farmville. 
The marching of our depleted and exhausted 
forces for the past two days had been conducted 
during the day by throwing out skirmishers on 
both flanks, and calling them in at dark, our rear 



326 THE STORY OF 

now being cared for by the troops of General 
Ewell. The skirmishers in front and on the 
flank became actively engaged at sunrise, the balls 
from the enemy's sharpshooters whistling over 
and among the men of the regiment. Here I 
saw for the first and last time General Henry A. 
Wise, a tall, slender, gray-haired man, straight as 
an arrow, apparently vigorous for a man of his 
years. We were now to fight our last engage- 
ment — the battle of Sailor's Creek. 

The skirmishing now grew more animated, we 
expecting every moment toi be attacked, but the 
enemy was merely attracting our attention and 
trying to hold us where we were until his in- 
fantry columns could come up. In the afternoon, 
probably 2 130 or a little later, a heavy force of 
the enemy's cavalry made a charge on a battalion 
of Confederate artillery in advance of us on the 
same road. To check this cavalry charge, w^e 
were hurried across. Sailor's Creek, reaching the 
guns of Colonel Huger's battalion in time to see 
most of the artillerists, including Colonel Huger, 
taken away as prisoners. The enemy not being 
able to take these guns away, as we were now at 
their! heels, they hurriedly chopped with an axe 
the spokes out of the wheels, disabling them for 
present use, then retreated, we following in line 
of battle and going forward through an open 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 327 

field, meeting no resistance, and halting on a piece 
of high ground. A squadron of Federal cavalry, 
spying General Pickett with his staff riding up 
in our rear, made a dash for him ; about the same 
time he discovered the object of these bold riders, 
and galloped quickly to the lines of the brigade 
to our left, which was in a body of scattering tim- 
ber. These reckless troopers pushed up after the 
General until close to our men, who fired upon 
them, emptying every saddle. This incident is 
given to show the reader how desperate was this 
prolonged game of death. 

On the brow of the hill where our brigade 
halted on the road on which we had been march- 
ing, there was intersection with another road 
leading directly west. Here we hurriedly tore 
away an old worm fence, piling up the rails to 
make some protection against rifle balls. On the 
left rear of Pickett's and part of Bushrod John- 
son's divisions on Sailor's Creek were Custis 
Lee's and Kershaw's 3000 men under General 
Ewell, with whom we had no connection, nor with 
Mahone's division and other troops ahead of us, 
leaving gaps through which the Federal cavalry 
passed, enabling them to get on our flanks and 
rear. The enemy's troops in this engagement — 
one army corps with three cavalry divisions — 
numbered 25,000 or more men, while the Con- 



328 THE STORY OF 

federates did not have 7500 all told. The fighting 
was desperate. Along our front and fully five 
hundred yards away we could see passing to our 
right heavy bodies of the enemy, evidently bent 
upon getting ahead of us. Moreover, this must 
have been manifest to our commanding officers, 
who permitted us to remain idle for several 
hours and until the enemy made full preparations 
to attack us. That somebody blundered, there is 
no doubt, as any enlisted man in the ranks could 
clearly see. We should have moved on. The 
attack came between 3 and 4 o'clock P. M. by an 
assault on Munford's dismounted cavalry in a 
skirt of woods to our right. This attack, as were 
others on our right front, was repulsed. 

General Terry, our brigade commander, had 
given the order to move to the right, when he dis- 
covered another advance upon us, this time in 
heavy force. We were ordered to remain where 
we were and not to fire until the enemy were close 
enough to see the whites of their eyes, then fire 
and charge with the bayonet. We were behind 
the rails, close to the ground. The enemy, armed 
with repeating rifles, when within seventy-five 
yards or so opened upon us, filling the air with 
balls, and coming at us. Every man who raised 
his head above the rails gave his life for the ven- 
ture. Captain Harris, the Adjutant General of 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 329 

the brigade, raised his head to look and fell back 
dead; a sandy haired man of my regiment at my 
elbow met the same fate. He was from Orange 
County and never knew what hit him. Then 
came a lull in the firing in front, and I heard a 
noise behind us ; looking around, I saw a column 
of Federal cavalry close behind us, one of whom 
had boldly dashed up behind our regiment, seized 
the colors, and with drawn saber compelled Tor- 
bett, the color bearer, to surrender the same. Such 
was the character and bravery of the men we had 
to fight. Some one just then cried, *'Fire!" and 
a portion of our regiment delivered its fire into 
the faces of the enemy in front. In a moment 
began an indiscriminate fight with clubbed mus- 
kets, flagstaffs, pistols and sabers. In a few 
moments all was over. We had met the enemy 
and we were theirs. This final struggle was most 
tragic. We were now marched out and sur- 
rounded by a cordon of cavalry. 

Ewell's, Kershaw's and Custis Lee's battle on 
the left was still raging, but to terminate, as had 
ours, in their capture, together with the greater 
part of their commands, which had made a brave 
and gallant fight, but like ourselves were the vic- 
tims of gross blunders on the part of someone in 
authority on the field, as well as overwhelmed by 
superior numbers. This battle ended my activi- 



330 THE STORY OF 

ties in the army. There remains only to describe 
my experience as a prisoner of war, which I will 
do later on. 

The Federal losses in this battle were i66 killed, 
1 014 wounded. The Confederate losses, 268 
killed, 2032 wounded, together with some 6000 
prisoners claimed by the enemy. A portion of 
the division escaped with General Pickett and 
reached Appomattox. 

I am unable to give the number of the killed, 
w^ounded and captured of our division, brigade or 
regiment. I do not, however, believe the 7th Vir- 
ginia in this battle numbered two hundred, the 
brigade five hundred, the division not exceed- 
ing two thousand. Company D had two officers 
and sixteen men in this battle, having no loss in 
killed or wounded. Suffice it to say that with 
our small number we could not have been driven 
from our position by parallel battle line. 

Four years before this company left Pearis- 
burg, Virginia, with 102 men, the majority of 
whom were as promising and gallant young men 
as Virginia produced. During the time of serv- 
ice twenty recruits were added, making 122 in 
all, and now here we were with eighteen left. The 
reader is left to ask where were the 104. Let 
the crippled and mangled survivors who had 
been discharged, the graves of the noble dead 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 331 

scattered all over Virginia, Maryland and Penn- 
sylvania, make answer. Can anyone wonder that 
we eighteen were drawn together that day by a 
bond of suffering and blighted hope, closer than 
ever before ? 

Here are the names of the men of Company 
D present in this last tragic struggle, to-wit: 
Captain R. H. Bane, Lieutenant Thomas S. Tay- 
lor ; the men, Fry, Yager, Shannon, Bolton, Darr, 
Eaton, Gordon, Henderson, J. J. Hurt, C. Min- 
nich, G. A. Minnich, Suthern, Stafford, Wiley, 
Meadows and the writer. 

Strange were the scenes among the captives 
at Sailor's Creek : some cried, some prayed, others 
were angry; some cursed, abusing the one who 
blundered, leading us into the trap to be cap- 
tured, while a few were cheerful, saying all is 
not yet lost, but it was apparent to the writer 
that we had fired our last gun. The flag we had 
followed to victory on so many fields was now 
furled forever, and strong men wept! 

The sun was fast sinking; the men lay down 
upon the ground and were soon asleep, many not 
waking until the sun was high in the heavens the 
next day. Gloom was depicted on every coun- 
tenance, and sorrow was in every face. These 
men had seen their comrades go down day by 
day, by which they were impressed that if the 



332 THE STORY OF 

war continued it was only a question of time 
when they too would bite the dust. They, how- 
ever, had this consolation regarding their fallen 
comrades : that they had gone dow^n in the con- 
scientious belief in the justness of their cause, in 
the hope of victory, and had not lived to see their 
flag furled in defeat, and were saved the humilia- 
tion/ of tasting the bitter cup of submission, of 
which we were to drink to its veiy dregs. Maybe 
these after all were the lucky men — who knows ? 
The gallantry and devotion of our soldiers in 
the unequal struggle proved how thorough were 
their convictions of the righteousness of their 
cause. Their devotion to that cause and their 
kindness and humanity to those whom the fate 
of war placed in their power, proved them worthy 
sons of noble ancestry. These men viewed the 
attempt at coercion on the part of the Northern 
people as aggression, and their action in defense 
of their country, homes and firesides, as an in- 
herent, inalienable right — a defense of constitu- 
tional liberty. 

Immediately upon our capture, the Federal 
soldiers stripped many of our men of all their 
good hats, boots and small trinklets. Colonel 
Flowerree, who had a splendid new hat and boots, 
was deprived of both, and in lieu thereof was 
given a worn out, dingy old cap and rough shoes. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 333 

I think they took these things as souvenirs — war 
trophies — they did not need them, for they were 
well supplied. 

We were wdthout food and had been practically 
so since the preceding Monday. Our captors 
themselves were poorly supplied, but our humane, 
brave and generous foes divided their scanty sup- 
ply with us. All of the men captured in the battle 
of the day before, about six thousand, the Fed- 
erals then claimed, were congregated with us in 
the field in which w^e were placed. 



Chapter XXVIII 



To Prison at Point Lookout, Maryland. 

Prison Life. 

Release. 

Home. 



NEAR noon on Friday, April 7, the march 
was taken up for prison at Point Lookout, 
a distance of about 150 miles, though at 
that time we did not know our destination. The 
Federal soldiers were still taking from our men 
hats and other articles that pleased their fancy. 
I noted in my description of the battle of Dreury's 
Bluff that an Irish sergeant of the ist Virginia 
regiment had picked up a fine hat on the battle- 
field which he had given to me because it would 
not fit his head, but did mine. I kept this hat 
until the opening of the campaign in March, 1865, 
when I put it on, believing this would be our last 
campaign. When captured at Sailor's Creek I 
was wearing this hat, and on observing the Fed- 
eral soldiers capturing hats from our men, I kept 
as far away from them as I could until we began 
the march on the 7th, when, crossing a pond, I 
soused my hat in the muddy water, which made 
it then appear as worthless, but it was safe in my 
possession. I wore it to prison, then cleaned off 
the mud and wore it home. This hat, a blanket 
and a canteen were the only Federal trophies of 
the war I carried home. 

Late in the evening of April 7, while on the 
march, we met a drove of beef cattle being driven 



338 THE STORY OF 

forward for use of the Federal army. We were 
halted while a number of these beeves were 
slaughtered, dressed, cut up into small parcels and 
handed us where we stood in the road, and we 
marched on without opportunity to cook the beef, 
which we devoured blood raw, without salt. This 
probably may shock the reader, but it was the best 
that could be done. 

On the night march of the 7th from Burkeville 
I could have escaped, but I reasoned that if I 
did I would most likely be recaptured, and if I 
was not I would probably starve, as there was no 
food in the country, so I determined to risk our 
captors to give us food. 

Next morning we were near Nottoway and 
passed that day through Petersburg, halting on 
Thursday, the 13th, near 10 o'clock A. M., at the 
Federal commissary, nearly a mile beyond the 
city, where a bountiful supply of food was given 
us — the first we had received since March 29. 
Several men were too sick to eat, I of the number, 
enfeebled as we were from our long continued 
marching and from dysentery, resulting from eat- 
ing raw, warm beef, without salt. Resuming the 
march late in the evening, City Point was reached 
at dark, where we were huddled together, forced 
to stand all night in mud several inches deep, in 
a drizzling rain, without rest or sleep, not even 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 339 

a place to sit down, unless in the mud and water. 
Such is war. 

Next day, April 14, we were placed aboard a 
steamer, that evening dropping down the James 
River. Next morning, Saturday the 15th, found 
our vessel anchored off Point Lookout. Here we 
first heard of Mr. Lincoln's assassination the pre- 
ceding night, which at first we were not dis- 
posed to credit, but were soon convinced that some 
fearful catastrophe had taken place, as the flags 
on the shipping were at half mast. As soon as 
we were landed we became satisfied that the re- 
jx>rt of Mr. Lincoln's death was true, the Federal 
soldiers informing us that any signs of exulta- 
tion would result in the opening of the batteries 
on us. We saw that the guns were pointed at the 
prison. They, however, mistook the spirit and 
feelings of our men, who, though stung by defeat, 
yet brave and chivalrous foes, they could in no 
wise justify, excuse or palliate so cold-blooded 
a murder, much less rejoice at its commission. 
They regretted greatly the death of Mr. Lincoln, 
and spoke of him in the tenderest terms, saying 
had he lived he would have been kind to our 
people. 

As we entered the prison walls, every man 
was searched and everything of value (which was 
little) taken from him. The quarters consisted 



340 THE STORY OF 

of small tents, large enough for about five men, 
into which were crowded about eight to ten, 
divided into companies in charge of our own ser- 
geants. 

Around the prison was a high plank fence with 
a platform at the top, on which the guards made 
their beats. The water was bad — brackish, dis- 
coloring our teeth. The number of Confederates 
in this prison was more than 23,000 men, cover- 
ing about twenty-two acres of land — more than 
1,000 to the acre. The number of deaths among 
the prisoners reported was, from April to July, 
over 6,800. Among these was Josephus Suth- 
ern, of Company D, 7th regiment. I found in 
this prison Sumner, Crawford, Dudley and Mul- 
lins, of Company D, who, with those captured at 
Sailor's Creek, to wit: Fry, Yager, Shannon, 
Bolton, Darr, Eaton, Gordon, Henderson, Jim 
Hurt, Meadows, C. Mianich, George A. Minnich, 
Suthern, Stafford, Wiley and the writer, making 
the number twenty in prison. When we met un- 
der these new conditions, strange sensations were 
experienced, as the reader may well suppose. 

The only place we were allowed to go outside 
of the prison, and that only in the daytime, was 
on the Chesapeake bayside. Our rations consisted 
of eight ounces of loaf bread per day, a thin piece 
of bacon or salt pork boiled and cut so thin that 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 341 

it was almost transparent, and a pint cup of bean 
soup, in which we occasionally found a bean. As 
a result we were always hungry — went to bed 
hungry, dreamed of being hungry, and got up 
ready for breakfast with the same feeling. I 
went to prison weighing one hundred and sixty- 
five pounds, not sick a day after I got there, and 
came out weighing one hundred and twenty- 
seven pounds. Carrying out the ratio, if I had 
stayed there six months I would have weighed 
nothing. We were constantly in danger of being 
wounded or losing our lives by the reckless firing 
of the negro guards into the prison at some one 
claimed by them to be violating the prison rules. 
We had nothing to read except now and then 
when we found some man with a Bible or Testa- 
ment. Some of the men were ingenious work- 
men, making rings from gutta percha buttons and 
selling them to the guards. 

Near the middle of June orders came for the 
discharge of the prisoners, upon taking the oath 
of fidelity to the United States. The men were 
to be taken out in alphabetical order and trans- 
ported away as rapidly as could be done. As soon 
as it was announced that men's names beginning 
with the letter A would repair to headquarters, 
then it seemed to all appearances that half the 
prisoners had names beginning with the letter A. 



342 THE STORY OF 

Many a poor fellow, in his anxiety to get away, 
went out under an assumed name. The letter 
J was called on Wednesday, June 28, when the 
numbers in the prison had been g-reatly reduced, 
though only the ninth letter of the alphabet had 
been passed. 

Repairing to headquarters, thirty-two fell into 
line under the American flag unfolded over their 
heads and had the oath administered to them ; the 
officers taking a personal description of each man, 
furnishing him the oath and certificate of dis- 
charge in writing, when he was passed outside the 
prison wall. Here follows an exact copy of the 
oath taken by me and certificate of discharge from 
prison : 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

I, David E. Johnston, of the County of 
Giles and State of Va., do solemnly swear 
that I will support, protect and defend the 
Constitution and Government of the United 
States against all enemies, whether domestic 
or foreign; that I will bear true faith, alle- 
giance and loyalty to the same, any ordinance, 
resolution, or laws of any state, convention 
or legislature to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing; and further, that I will faithfully per- 
form all the duties which may be required of 
me by the laws of the United States; and 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 343 

that I take this oath freely and voluntarily 
without any mental reservation or evasion 
whatever. 

(Signed) D. E. JOHNSTON. 
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 
28th day of June, A. D. 1865. 

(Signed) A. C. BRADY, 
Maj. and Provost Marshal. 
The above named has fair complexion, 
brown hair and hazel eyes, and is 5 feet 9J^ 
inches high. 



CERTIFICATE OE RELEASE OF 
PRISONER OE WAR. 
Headquarters, Point Lookout, Md. 
Provost Marshal's Office, June 28, 1865. 
I hereby certify that David E. Johnston, 
prisoner of war, having this day taken the 
Oath of Allegiance to the United States, is, 
in conformity with instructions from the War 
Department, hereby released and discharged. 
In Witness Whereof I hereunto affix my 
official signature and stamp. 

(Signed) A. C. BRADY, 
Maj. and Provost Marshal. 
A. C. BRADY, 
June 28, 1865. 
Maj. and Provost Marshal. 



344 THE STORY OF 

The reader may be interested to know that I 
have grown a full inch in height and gained more 
than 80 pounds in weight. 

Steamers were at the wharf and as soon as it 
was known that a sufficient number of those 
whose destination was Richmond were discharged 
to load the vessel, we went aboard, landing at 
Richmond the evening of June 29, and walked 
up on to the streets, which for the most part were 
deserted, the city in ruins. 

This was Richmond, on the majestic James — 
the proudest city of Virginia, for whose capture 
great armies had contended for nearly four years ; 
not only the capital of Virginia, but of the Con- 
federacy, doing more for the Confederate soldier 
than any other place in the South. Her people 
were intelligent and high minded and patriotic. 
I had seen her in her power and glory, but now 
in the ashes of her destruction, poverty and hu- 
miliation. I have since seen her in her opulence 
and more than her former greatness and glory. 

On landing we found ourselves among a people 
as poor and destitute as we. With no money, no 
food, no place to stay, traveling without scrip 
or purse, we finally made our way to old 
Chimborazo Hospital, where we slept that night 
on the grass in the yard. The next morning 
early we made our way to the Danville depot, 
where a crowd of several hundred ex-Confederate 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 345 

soldiers were congregated, trying to get some kind 
of transportation home. An old, broken down 
engine was found by some one in the shop and 
some box cars in the yard, which were cobbled on, 
making up a train sufficient, by close packing 
inside the boxes and on top, to bear the crowd 
away. I, with others, concluded to try the top 
of a box car, as we would have more room and 
plenty of air, but the car, being covered with 
metal, the heat up there from both the sun and 
the metal on the car made it no very comfortable 
place. The engine, too cranky to do much pulling, 
stuck on the first grade, but after much labor 
it started again, making slow progress. Late in 
the evening we had a severe electric storm, accom- 
panied by a heavy downpour of rain, giving those 
on the boxes a thorough drenching. Those of 
us going to Lynchburg left the train at Burkeville 
to make Farmville, which we did in time to catch 
another train of box cars which carried us to 
within six miles of Lynchburg, where we boarded 
a packet boat, getting into Lynchburg late in the 
evening. There we found quarters in a building 
called the "Soldiers' Home." We had little to 
eat that night, but more the next day, Sunday, 
having to remain over till Monday morning for a 
train that would carry us westward over the Vir- 
ginia and Tennessee Railroad. Leaving on Mon- 



346 THE STORY OF 

day morning, we reached Big Spring at the fooi 
of the Alleghanies, where the railroad was again 
broken. By this time our numbers had been re- 
duced to three — Leonard, of Carroll ; Sam Lucas, 
of Giles, and the writer. We now trudged along 
afoot till we passed through Alleghany tunnel, 
where Lucas left us, turning to the right for his 
home. Leonard and I tramped on, dark over- 
taking us at Christiansburg depot, where, hungry 
and worn out, we sought the shades of a friendly 
oak and, with nothing to eat, lay down and went 
to sleep. 

Our tramp was resumed early on Tuesday, July 
4. After a mile or so, finding ourselves grow- 
ing weaker and our hunger increasing, we then 
for the first time decided to beg, and succeeded 
in getting some bread and our canteens filled with 
milk, which we finished on the spot. Moving 
on, we crossed New River, on the partially de- 
stroyed railroad bridge, beyond which a mile or 
so we received another supply of milk. On reach- 
ing Dublin, my comrade and friend, Leonard, 
bidding me goodbye, took the left hand and I the 
right. I was now heading directly for home, and 
after walking about two and a half miles, it being 
about 2 P. M., I decided to sit down and rest. I 
propped myself against a small oak sapling by 
the roadside, and when I awoke the sun was be- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 347 

hind the western mountains. Eight miles further 
on I reached the home of Mr. Thomas Shannon, 
who kindly took me in, fed me and gave me a 
bed. About 3 P. M. on the next day, Wednes- 
day, July 5, 1865, four years, one month and 
twelve days from the day on which I had left for 
the war, I reached home — satisfied with my ex- 
perience, with no more desire for war, yet proud 
of my record as a Confederate soldier, as I am 
to this day ; with no apologies to make to anyone, 
as I, in common with my fellow soldiers, repudiate 
as unsound and baseless any charge of rebellion 
or treason in the war. We had resorted to the 
revolutionary right to establish separate govern- 
ment vouchsafed to us in the Declaration of In- 
dependence. I did not fight to destroy the gov- 
ernment of the United States, nor for the per- 
petuation of the institution of slavery, for which 
I cared nothing, but did fight for four years of 
my young manhood for a principle I knew to be 
right. Had such not been true, I would not have 
risked my life, my all, therefor, nor have been a 
Virginia Confederate soldier. 

I doubt not, had the South at any time during 
the contest agreed to return to the Union, that 
the Federal soldier would have thrown down his 
musket and gone home, for he was not fighting 
for the destruction of slavery, but for the preser- 



348 THE STORY OF 

vation and restoration of the Union. I attach no 
blame to the brave Union soldier. He was as sin- 
cere and conscientious in the fight he made as 
was I in the one I made. We were both right 
from our respective viewpoints. With charity for 
all and malice towards none, this narrative is 
closed. 



Chapter XXIX 



The Conclusion. 

War Ends. 

The Return to Civil Pursuits. 

The Confederate Soldier. 



THE war was now ended, the issues involved 
settled and closed, so far as they could be 
by the sword. The Federal government 
had stood the test, proved itself too strong for 
the allied seceded states, overthrown their separ- 
ate government, maintained by a separate people 
for four years, and established the fact that no 
state could secede or leave) the Union unless by 
revolution and force of arms strong enough to 
defy and successfully resist the power of the gen- 
eral government. Slavery was abolished and 
could not exist among the American people. To 
accomplish these two things had cost thousands 
of lives, anguish, blood and billions of treasure. 
With the close of the war the survivors of 
Company D who were either at home or in hos- 
pital when the war ended, or who had gotten 
home from the surrender at Appomattox, or had 
been released from military prisons, accepted the 
result of the conflict in good faith and again 
entered the pursuits of civil life. As they had 
been gallant soldiers, they became law-abiding, 
upright and worthy citizens. Numbers of the 
company had perished on the battlefield, in hos- 
pitals and in prison. Some were buried on the 
field where they fell, with no monument or slab 



352 THE STORY OF 

to mark their last resting place, yet they died for 
a cause the justness of which they never for a 
moment doubted. The survivors lived to see their 
efforts for separate government defeated, the 
principles and the righteousness of the cause not 
lost, but the struggle to establish and maintain 
the same had failed. This failure is, however, no 
argument against the justness and right of the 
cause. No braver, nobler company of men had 
part in the contest than the company of which 
I write. Theirs was a sacrifice for liberty not 
to be gained and a struggle in which all was lost 
save honor and manhood. 

Now (19 14), nearly fifty years have passed 
since the close of the mighty conflict, and there 
remain alive of those brave men who stood on the 
firing line, baring their bosoms to the storm, but 
few, eighteen, so far as I know or can ascertain, 
and whose names are as follows : A. L. Fry, 
J. T. Frazier, John A. Hale, B. L. Hoge, James 

J. Hurt, David E. Johnston, Lewy, N. J. 

Morris, Thomas N. Mustain, A. C. Pack, William 
D. Peters, John W. Sarver, Alexander Skeens, 
Joseph Skeens, W. H. H. Snidow, Thomas J. 
Stafford, Gordon L. Wilburn and Jesse B. Young. 

In what is said herein in praise of the honor 
and glory won in war and peace by the Con- 
federate soldier, particularly of those of the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 353 

Army of Northern Virginia, with which I served 
throughout the four years' struggle, I do not for 
one moment mean or intend to detract from the 
laurels won by the heroic Union soldier, who 
stood in the firing line, faithfully discharging his 
duty; for he, as well as we, was contending for 
principles regarded sacred and for which we had 
risked our lives, and in which struggle one or 
the other of the combatants must yield. All were 
American soldiers, and the glory and honor won 
by each is the common heritage of the American 
people, not to be obscured or clouded by the ques- 
tions about which we differed. Each struggled 
to maintain the right as God gave him to see the 
right. 

We often talked along the skirmish lines with 
Union soldiers and they invariably and vehem- 
ently denied that they were fighting to abolish 
or destroy slavery. Particularly was this true of 
those from the Northwestern states. In opposi- 
tion to our claim or contention that we were fight- 
ing for independence — separate government — 
they insisted that they were fighting for the 
Union, a common, undivided country; did not 
want to see the country broken up by division; 
and I feel fairly safe in stating that this feeling 
and sentiment largely dominated the great major- 
ity of the Union soldiers. I recall one or more 

23 



354 THE STORY OF 

conversations with Union soldiers along the lines 
on the above subject, in which they told me that 
if they believed they were fighting to free the 
slaves they would quit the army and go home. 
The Confederate soldier, as I have already 
said, accepted in good faith the result of the war, 
bore no malice toward those whom he had fought 
face to face, knowing: 

''Malice is a wrinkled hag, hell-born; 
Her heart is hate, her soul is scorn. 
Blinded with blood, she cannot see 
To do any deed of charity." 

And again remembering the thought expressed 
in the lines : 

''You cannot tame the tiger, 
You dare not kill the dove; 
But every gate you bar with hate 
Will open wide to love." 

No such army ever trod this earth as the Army 
of Northern Virginia, composed of the best body 
of fighting men that ever shouldered a musket. 
President Roosevelt said of them: "The world 
has never seen better soldiers than those who fol- 
lowed Lee." 

The Federal General Hooker — "Fighting Joe," 
as he was aptly called by his soldiers, in his testi- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 355 

mony before the committee of Congress on the 
conduct of the war, in speaking of the Army of 
Northern Virginia, among other things said: 
'That army had by discipHne alone a character for 
steadiness and efficiency unsurpassed, in my judg- 
ment, in ancient or modern times. We have not 
been able to rival it." 

Colonel David F. Pugh, a gallant Federal sol- 
dier, and a late commander of the Grand Army 
of the Republic, in an address delivered by him 
at the unveiling of the Confederate monument at 
Camp Chase, Ohio, June 7, 1902, said: "All the 
bitterness has gone out of my heart, and in spite 
of a Confederate bullet in my body, I do not hesi- 
tate to acknowledge that their valor is part of 
the common heritage of the whole country. We 
can never challenge the fame of those men whose 
skill and valor made them the idols of the Con- 
federate army. The fame of Lee, Jackson, the 
Johnstons, Gordon, Longstreet, the Hills, Hood 
and Stuart and many thousands of non-commis- 
sioned officers and private soldiers of the Con- 
federate armies, whose names are not mentioned 
on historic pages, can never be tarnished by the 
carping criticisms of the narrow and shallow 
minded." 

If this be the estimate of a Northern president 
and of a leading general of our adversaries, who 



356 THE STORY OF 

at one time commanded the gallant Army of the 
Potomac, and of the other brave Federal soldier 
whom I have quoted, what shall we in truth say 
for ourselves? 

Lieutenant-General Early, among the bravest 
and best soldiers in the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, and who fought nearly a hundred battles 
and skirmishes, hence competent to speak on the 
subject, in his Memoirs says: "I believe the 
world has never produced a body of men super- 
ior in courage, patriotism and endurance to the 
private soldiers of the Confederate armies. I have 
repeatedly, seen these soldiers submit with cheer- 
fulness to privations and hardships which would 
appear to be almost incredible ; and the wild cheers 
of our brave men, when their lines sent back 
opposing hosts of Federal troops, staggering, reel- 
ing and flying, have often thrilled every fiber in 
my heart. I have seen with my own eyes ragged, 
barefooted and hungry Confederate soldiers per- 
form deeds which, if performed in days of yore by 
mailed warriors in glittering armor, would have 
inspired the harp of the minstrel and the pen of 
the poet." 

But arguing the nobility of the Confederate 
soldier is like arguing the brightness of the sun at 
noonday. The Confederate soldier was truly an 
American, for his people in the South were the 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 357 

truest type of Americans in the land, having very 
Httle foreign population among them. Again, this 
Confederate soldier was born and reared a gentle- 
man, was so by instinct. He was not a mercen- 
ary; he was neither for conquest nor aggression, 
but stood purely for self-defense. He believed 
in his inmost soul that no people had juster cause, 
higher aspirations, or made braver or nobler re- 
solves for cause, country, families, homes and 
firesides. I turn to ask, who were these Confed- 
erate soldiers? They were principally country 
folks, farmers, mechanics, school boys, as stated; 
native born Americans, descendants of Revolu- 
tionary patriots, by no means all slave owners; 
thousands never owned slaves, and many were 
opposed to the institution. The Confederate sol- 
dier was always impatient of military restraint, 
feeling himself the equal of and as good as any 
man, and not inferior to his superior in rank; in 
battle, as a rule, his own general ; his individuality 
and self-reliance, among his noted characteristics, 
were the crowning glory of his actions, and this 
self-reliance taught him when it was wise and 
prudent to fight, and when it was the better part 
of valor to decline. On the battlefield he was 
at his best; ''his clothes might be ragged, but his 
musket and saber were bright. His haversack 
empty, but he kept his cartridge box filled. Often 



358 THE STORY OF 

his feet were bare, blistered and bleeding; occa- 
sionally he might straggle on the march, but was 
up when the battle was on." 

Barefoot, ragged, without food, no pay and 
nothing to buy if he had money, he marched fur- 
ther, laughed louder, making the welkin ring with 
his rebel yell; endured more genuine suffering, 
hardship and fatigue, fought more bravely, com- 
plained and fretted less, than any soldier who 
marched beneath the banners of Napoleon. His 
nerve was steady and his aim was sure, and his 
powers of endurance and resistance unmeasured. 
This same Confederate soldier fought and hoped 
and hoped and fought: 

"Sometimes he won, then hopes were high ; 
Again he lost, but it would not die; 
And so to the end he followed and fought, 
With love and devotion, which could not be 
bought." 

Though his ears were often greeted with the 
cries of woe and distress of those at home 
(enough to break his heart), his ardor chilled 
not; he had a never faltering courage; his spirit 
remained unbroken, his convictions never yielded. 
In the darkest hour of our peril, in the midst of 
dark and lowering clouds, with scarcely the glim- 
mer of a star of apparent hope, he still stood firm 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 359 

and grasped his musket with a tighter grip. Fol- 
lowing is the description given of this soldier by 
another : 

"Look at the picture of this soldier as he stood 
in the iron and leaden hail, with his old, worn out 
slouch hat, his bright eyes glistening with excite- 
ment, powder-begrimed face, rent and ragged 
clothing, with the prints of his bare feet in the 
dust of the battle, a genuine tatterdemalion, fight- 
ing bravely, with no hope of reward, promotion 
or pay, with little to eat and that often cornbread 
and sorphum molasses. If he stopped a Yankee 
bullet and was thereby killed, he was buried on 
the field and forgotten, except by comrades or .a 
loving old mother at home." 

''In the solemn shades of the wood that swept 
The field where his comrades found him, 

They buried him there — and the big tears crept 
Into strong men's eyes that had seldom wept. 

His mother — God pity her! — smiled and slept, 
Dreaming her arms were around him." 

In modern times there has never been such 
valor and heroism displayed as in our Civil War, 
never such soldiers as the Union and Confederate, 
and certainly never such as the Confederate sol- 
diers, and it would be nothing to their credit to 
have achieved victories over less valorous foes 



360 THE STORY OF 

than the Union soldiers, and no credit to the 
Union soldiers that they overwhelmed men of 
less bravery. The individuality of the Confeder- 
ate soldier was never lost, and this with his self- 
possession and intelligent thought made him well 
nigh invincible. The Army of Northern Virginia 
as a whole was never driven from a battlefield, 
although confronted by as good soldiers as were 
on the continent. No danger could appall these 
men of Lee, no peril awe, no hardships dismay, 
no numbers intimidate. To them duty was an in- 
spiration. They had devastated no fields, dese- 
crated no temples and plundered no people, al- 
ways respecting woman, and feared no man. The 
record of these soldiers since the war is clean, 
their names a stranger to criminal records; few, 
if any, who followed Lee have been behind the 
bars of a jail. He was their great exemplar. 
Thousands of these non-commissioned officers 
and private soldiers, after the first year of the 
war, were fitted not only to command regiments, 
but could well have filled much higher military 
positions. 

Great soldiers were Lee, Johnston, Jackson, 
Longstreet, Hills, Pickett, Stuart and others, but 
who made them great? No generals ever had 
such soldiers. It was these Confederates in the 
ranks that made the names of their generals im- 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 361 

mortal. Who would have ever heard of them, or 
of General Grant, but for the Confederate soldier ? 

What this Confederate soldier has been to the 
South since the war cannot be measured or stated. 
Shortly after the close of the conflict and he had 
reached his home, if he had one left, his troubles 
were not over. He was confronted with the aft- 
ermath — the carpet-bagger and the scallawag, as 
well as by military-enforced reconstruction, the 
blackest spot on the page of American history. 
Well we might and did forgive the wrongs of 
war, but how were we to overlook and forget the 
outrageous and shameful things done in the name 
of restoration of civil government, by the carpet- 
bagger. Northern political pest and pirate — the 
Southern scallawag, the low, mean, unworthy 
Southern white man, thrown to the surface by 
the revolution, but, like all dirt and filth, to go 
to the bottom and sink in the mud when the flood 
had subsided. 

Serious and grave as these questions were, 
which sorely tried the Confederate soldier's cour- 
age, patience and forbearance, as they had been 
tested in war, he met them bravely, firmly and 
by his indomitable spirit directed and controlled 
them. His broad, keen, intelligent knowledge of 
men and things finally carried him through the 
trying ordeal, and crowned his labors with stable 



362 THE STORY OF 

governments for the states of his Southland, the 
most American conservative portion of the re- 
public, made so largely by the brain, brav^n, 
energy and industry of the Confederate soldier, 
who has been the leader, promoter and architect 
of her industrial and political fortunes, the idol 
of her people, her representative in the every fiber 
and thought of her existence and governments. 
He has raised her from her ashes and poverty 
into a veritable garden and to industrial and 
political power. The last roll call will shortly be 
sounded, his sun will soon set — what a hero! 
What an object of interest, will be the last sur- 
viving soldier of the Confederacy (I crave to be 
the one ! ) , the only and last representative of that 
government of which the great English scholar 
and poet, Professor Worsely, has written: 

"No nation ever rose so white and fair, 
Or fell so free of crime." 



Appendix No. 1 



RANK, WOUNDS, DEATHS, DISCHARGES, 
ETC. 

No. 1. James H. French, captain first year of war; 
led the company in battles of Bull Run and 
First Manassas. 

No. 2. Eustace Gibson, first lieutenant first year of 
war ; in battles Bull Run and First Manassas. 
Brave soldier. 

No. 3. W. A. Anderson, second lieutenant first 
year. 

No. 4. Joel Blackard, second junior lieutenant first 
year ; elected captain at reorganization, April, 
1862 ; in battles of Bull Run, First Manassas, 
Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Cold Harbor; 
killed in Battle of Frazier's Farm, June 30, 
1862. 

No. 5. R. H. Bane, sergeant; elected first lieuten- 
ant at reorganization, April, 1862; promoted 
captain on death of Blackard; wounded at 
First Battle of Manassas; led the company 
for the remainder of the war ; died since the 
war. 

No. 6. John W. Mullins, second sergeant ; promoted 
to first sergeant ; elected second lieutenant at 
reorganization, April, 1862 ; wounded at Sec- 
ond Battle of Manassas a'nd Howlett House, 
dying of wound received at last named place. 

No. 7. Elisha M. Stone, corporal ; elected third 
lieutenant at reorganization, April, 1862; 
wounded in battles of Williamsburg and 



366 THE STORY OF 

Gettysburg; captured at last named battle; 
remained a prisoner to close of the war ; led 
Company E, 7th regiment, in Battle of 
Gettysburg. 

No. 8. Elijah R. Walker, elected second junior lieu- 
tenant in 1862; promoted to second lieuten- 
ant on death of Mullins ; wounded in battles 
of Seven Pines and Gettysburg; disabled for 
service in last named battle, and retired in 
April, 1864. 

No. 9. Thomas S. Taylor, first sergeant; elected 
second lieutenant, November 25, 1864; 
slightly wounded at Gettysburg; captured 
at Battle of Sailor's Creek. 

No. 10. A. C. Pack, first sergeant ; in battles of 
Bull Run and First Manassas ; discharged on 
account of disability in Fall of 1861. 

No. 11. B. P. Watts, elected second sergeant, but 
on account of ill health not mustered into 
service. 

No. 12. J. C. Hughes, elected third sergeant in 
April, 1861 ; in prison at close of war. 

No. 13. William D. Peters, fourth sergeant in April, 
1861 ; third sergeant at reorganization ; 
severely wounded at Battle of Five Forks, 
April 1, 1865. 

No. 14. Hamilton J. Hale, fifth sergeant ; died at 
Culpeper, October, 1861. 

No. 15. A. L. Fry, first sergeant; wounded at First 
Battle of Manassas ; captured at Warrentob, 
September, 1862; slightly wounded at Bat- 
tle of Plymouth, N. C, April, 1864; cap- 
tured at Battle of Sailor's Creek, April, 1865 ; 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 367 

a prisoner at Point Lookout at close of the 
war. 

No. 16. W. H. H. Snidow, second sergeant ; in Con- 
federate prison at close of the war. 

No. 17. Joseph C. Shannon, fourth sergeant; 
slightly wounded at Battle of Frazier's Farm ; 
captured at Battle of Sailor's Creek; a 
prisoner at Point Lookout. 

No. 18. David E, Johnston, fourth sergeant ; 
slightly wounded at Battle of Williamsburg; 
appointed sergeant-major 7th Virginia Regi- 
ment, December 10, 1862; severely wounded 
at Battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 ; left on 
the field and captured ; also captured at 
Battle of Sailor's Creek, April 6, 1865 ; a 
prisoner at Point Lookout at end of the war. 

No. 19. T. N. Mustain, second corporal ; trans- 
ferred 1862 to 57th Virginia Infantry. 

No. 20. John W. Hight, fourth corporal ; wounded 
at battles of Seven Pines and Second Manas- 
sas; captured at Gettysburg on third day's 
battle; deserted. 

No. 21. A. J. Thompson, first corporal; wounded 
at Battle of Williamsburg; in prison at close 
of war. No better soldier. 

No. 22. Daniel Bish, second corporal ; wounded at 
Battle of Frazier's Farm; killed at Battle of 
Gettysburg, third day. 

No. 23. George C. Mullins, third corporal ; cap- 
tured at Battle of Five Forks ; a prisoner at 
Point Lookout. 

No. 24. Jesse B. Young, fourth corporal ; temporary 
regimental ensign; wounded at battles of 



368 THE STORY OF 

Frazier's Farm and Gettysburg and cap- 
tured; again wounded in Battle at Clay's 
House. A brave and valiant soldier. 

No. 25. Edward Z. Yager, first sergeant in 1864 ; 
wounded in Battle of Williamsburg; cap- 
tured at Sailor's Creek; prisoner at Point 
Lookout. 

No. 26. David C. Akers, wounded at Battle of 
Frazier's Farm ; killed in Battle of Gettys- 
burg. 

No. 27. George W. Akers, died in 1862. 

No. 28. W. R. Albert, discharged in 1862. 

No. 29. Allen M. Bane, transferred from 4th Vir- 
ginia regiment in exchange for John H. Mar- 
tin, of Company D; wounded in Battle of 
Williamsburg ; captured at Battle of Frazier's 
Farm; transferred to 1st Kentucky battalion 
of cavalry. 

No. 30. Alexander Bolton, cook and member of 
ambulance corps; a prisoner at Point Look- 
out. 

No. 31. Joseph E. Bane, killed at First Battle of 
Manassas. 

No. 32. Jesse Barrett, killed at Battle of Gettys- 
burg, third day. 

No. 33. Travis Burton, wounded at Battle of Seven 
Pines ; transferred. 

No. 34. W. H. Carr, wounded at Second Battle of 
Manassas ; retired. 

No. 35. James M. Collins, detailed as blacksmith. 

No. 36. John R. Crawford, slightly wounded at Bat- 
tle of Boonsboro Gap; captured in Battle of 
Five Forks ; a prisoner at Point Lookout. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 369 

No. 37. William Crawford, over age ; discharged. 

No. 38. James B. Croy, on special service ; captured 
and held a prisoner until near end of war. 

No. 39. James Cole, killed at Battle of Boonsboro 
Gap. 

No. 40. T. P. Darr, wounded and taken prisoner at 
Battle of Frazier's Farm ; captured at Battle 
of Sailor's Creek ; a prisoner at Point Look- 
out. 

No. 41. Johii S. Dudley, wounded in Second Bat- 
tle of Manassas; also at Sharpsburg, and 
captured; slightly wounded at Dreury's 
Bluff ; captured at Five Forks ; a prisoner at 
Point Lookout. 

No. 42. M. J. Dulaney, died June, 1862. 

No. 43. D. R. Dulaney, transferred to Virginia Re- 
serves. 

No. 44. W. H. Douthat, discharged in 1862. 

No. 45. Thomas Davenport, deserted in Spring, 
1862. 

No. 46. David Davis, discharged in 1862. 

No. 47. Elbert S. Eaton, wounded in Second Battle 
of Manassas; captured in Battle of Sailor's 
Creek ; a prisoner at Point Lookout. 

No. 48. EHsha D. East, whipped out of service. 

No. 49. John W. East, wounded in battles of Wil- 
liamsburg, Plymouth, N. C, and Dreury's 
Bluff; deserted in 1864. 

No. 50. Joseph A. Eggleston, died in 1862 of 
wouiids received in battle of Frazier's Farm. 

No. 51. James H. Eggleston, died of disease, June, 
1862. 



370 THE STORY OF 

No. 52. John S. W. French, deserted at Suffolk, 

Va., May, 1863. 
No. 53. F. H. Farley, wounded in second battle of 

Manassas ; deserted in 1864. 
No. 54. William C. Fortner, wounded in battle of 

second Manassas; also at Gettysburg, where 

he was captured. 
No. 55. James H. Fortner, wounded in seco'nd 

battle of Manassas and Gettysburg; left on 

the field and captured. 
No. 56. J. Tyler Frazier ; slightly wounded irt sec- 
ond battle of Manassas; captured on retreat 

from Petersburg, 1865. 
No. 57. William Frazier, died October, 1861. 
No. 58. Creed D. Frazier, discharged in fall 1861. 
No. 59. W. A. French, in battles of Bull Run and 

first Manassas; discharged July, 1861. 
No. 60. Andrew J. French, discharged in fall of 

1861. 
No. 61. James H. Gardner, slightly wounded in 

battle of Bull Run, July 18, 1861 ; deserted 

May, 1863. 
No. 62. Francis M. Gordon, wounded in battle of 

Frazier's Farm ; captured in battle of Sailor's 

Creek ; prisoner at Point Lookout. 
No. 63. Andrew J. Grigsby, promoted to Major 

27th Virginia regiment. 
No. 64. Charles A. Hale, surrendered at Appomat- 
tox. 
No. 65. John A. Hale, wounded in battles of 

Williamsburg and Five Forks. 
No. 66. John D. Hare, died November 23, 1861. 
No. 67. Isaac Hare, slightly wounded in battle of 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 371 

Bull Run, and severely wounded in battle 

of Williamsburg; transferred. 
No. 68. John R. Henderson, died October, 1861. 
No. 69. James B. Henderson, captured i'n battle of 

Sailor's Creek; in prison at Point Lookout. 
No. 70. B. L. Hoge, at home sick at close of the 

war. 
No. 71. James Hughes, discharged, died in 1861. 
No. 72. James J. Hurt, wounded in battle of 

Gettysburg; captured at Sailor's Creek, and 

prisoner at end of the war. 
No. 73. George W. Hurt, detached as teamster. 
No. 74. John F. Jones, wounded in battle of 

Gettysburg; leg amputated; discharged. 
No. 75. George Johnston, discharged. 
No. 76. Ma'nilius S. Johnston, wounded in first bat- 
tle of Manassas; discharged. 
No. 77 . George Knoll, wounded in battles of 

Williamsburg and Boonsboro; captured at 

last named battle. 
No. 78. Charles N. J. Lee, wounded in first battle 

of Manassas; discharged. 
No. 79. Henry Lewey, wounded in first battle of 

Manassas ; surrendered at Appomattox. 
No. 80. Joseph Lewey, wounded at battle of Seven 

Pines ; surrendered at Appomattox. 
No. 81. W. H. Layton, deserted, February, 1862. 
No. 82. James Lindsey, discharged, 1861. 
No. 83. P. H. Lefler, discharged in 1862. 
No. 84. Anderson Meadows, wounded in battle of 

Williamsburg; captured at Sailor's Creek; 

prisoner at Point Lookout. 
No. 85. John Meadows, wounded in battles of 



372 THE STORY OF 

Williamsburg and Gettysburg; died in 1864. 
No. 86. Ballard P. Meadows, died June 18, 1862, 

of wounds received in battle of Frazier's 

Farm. 
No. 87. N. J. Morris, discharged i'n 1862. 
No. 88. George A. Minnich, wounded in battle of 

Frazier's Farm ; captured in battle of Sailor's 

Creek ; prisoner at Point Lookout. 
No. 89. Christian Minnich, captured in battle of 

Sailor's Creek; prisoner at Point Lookout. 
No. 90. John H. Minnich, discharged in 1861. 
No. 91. A. D. Ma'nning, killed in battle of Seven 

Pines. 
No. 92. Raleigh Merricks, detailed as teamster. 
No. 93. T. P. Mays, wounded in battle of Frazier's 

Farm; killed in battle of Boonsboro. 
No. 94. John H. Martin, transferred in 1861 to 4th 

Virginia regiment in exchange for Allen M. 

Bane, transferred to Company D from 4th 

Virginia regiment. 
No. 95. John Q. Martin, killed in second battle of 

Manassas. 
No. 96. W. W. Muncey, wounded in battle of Gettys- 
burg. 
No. 97. James J. Nye, died of wounds received in 

second battle of Manassas. 
No. 98. John Palmer, deserted in spring of 1862. 
No. 99. Charles W. Peck, Second Corporal, 

wounded in battle of Williamsburg; died in 

summer of 1862. 
No. 100. John W. Sarver, severely wounded in 
battle of Frazier's Farm; disabled and dis- 
charged. 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 373 

No. 101. Demarcus L. Sarver, wounded in battles 
of Williamsburg- and Gettysburg; deserted. 

No. 102. Josephus Suthern, wounded in battle of 
Frazier's Farm ; captured in battle of Sail- 
or's Creek ; died in prison at Point Lookout. 

No. 103. Samuel B. Shannon, wounded in battle of 
first Manassas ; served his one year enlist- 
ment; joined 1st Kentucky batallion of 
cavalry. 

No. 104. John P. Sublett, wounded in first battle of 
Manassas ; killed in battle of Gettysburg. 

No. 105. William T. Sublett, died October, 1861. 

No. 106. Alexander Skeens, discharged in 1862. 

No. 107. Joseph Skeens, discharged in 1862. 

No. 108. Lewis R. Skeens, died August 6, 1862. 

No. 109. A. L. Sumner, captured in battle of Five 
Forks; prisoner in Point Lookout. 

No. 110. Thomas J. Stafford, discharged in 1862. 

No. 111. William H. Stafford, killed in battle of 
Williamsburg. 

No. 112. R. M. Stafford, captured in battle of Sail- 
or's Creek ; a prisoner in Point Lookout. 

No. 113. Adam Thompson, wou'nded in battle of 
second Manassas; deserted February, 1864. 

No. 114. Alonzo Thompson, died, November, 1862. 

No. 115. Lee E. Vass, died August 4, 1862, of 
wounds received in battle of Frazier's Farm. 

No. 116. W. R. C. Vass, killed in second battle of 
Manassas. 

No. 117. Gordon L. Wilburn, wounded in second 
battle of Manassas ; surrendered at Ap- 
pomattox. 

No. 118. Hugh J. Wilbur'n, wounded in battles of 



374 THE STORY OF 

Frazier's Farm and' second Manassas; de- 
serted in May, 1863. 

No. 119. William I. Wilbum, wounded in battles 
of Williamsburg, and second Manassas; 
surrendered at Appomattox. 

No. 120. Lewis N. Wiley, wounded in battle of 
Fredericksburg; captured in battle of 
Sailor's Creek ; a prisoner at Point Lookout. 

No. 121. Isaac Young, transferred to 28th Virginia 
battalion. 

No. 122. Thomas J. Young, deserted in February, 
1862. 

Total Enlistment, 122. 

Number killed in battle and died of wounds 17 

Number died of disease 14 

Number discharged for various causes 29 

Number transferred to other commands 6 

Number in prison at Point Lookout and other 

places (at close of war) 27 

Number absent, sick in hospital, wounded, or 

at home (at close of war) 8 

Number surrendered at Appomattox 9 

Number deserted 12 



122 

Memo. — Absent, sick and wounded or at home at 
close of war : 

B. L. Hoge. George Knoll. 

W, W. Munsey. J. B. Young. 

W. C. Fortner. W. D. Peters. 

James H. Fortner. John A. Hale. 



Appendix No. 2 



In concluding my reminiscenses I have deter- 
mined to add some statistics as to the campaigns, 
strength and losses of the two greatest armies of 
the war — the Army of Northern Virginia and the 
Federal Army of the Potomac. Never before in 
modern warfare had it fallen to the lot of two such 
armies to fight so many bloody battles, with neither 
able to obtain any decided advantage over the other. 
Beginning with the battles around Richmond in 
the spring of 1862, to the close at Appomattox, 
these two armies fought many battles through seven 
great campaigns. The Army of Northern Virginia, 
under General Lee, numbering at its greatest not 
exceeding 80,000 men, certainly greatly inferior in 
numbers to that opposed — ^badly armed, equipped 
and fed, fought against six most distinguished Fed- 
eral commanders, tc-wit: 

McClellan before Richmond. 

Pope, Cedar Mountain and Manassas. 

McClellan in Maryland. 

Burnside at Fredericksburg. 

Hooker at ChaVicellorsville. 

Meade at Gettysburg. 

Grant from the Rapidan to Appomattox. 

In these campaigns the Federals lost in the ag- 
gregate about 263,000 men. The Confederate loss 
is not definitely known. 

General Grant's casualties were about 124,390 
men, and in his campaign from March 29, 1865, to 
April 9, 1865, his losses were 9944. 



378 THE STORY OF 

Gdneral Lee's surrender at Appomattox em- 
braced 28,356 men, of whom only 8000 had arms, 
the residue being largely made up of broken 
down, barefoot and sick men, teamsters and at- 
taches of the medical, ordnance, quartermaster, and 
commissary departments. 

It may be of interest to the reader to know the 
number of men enrolled in the Union and the Con- 
federate armies during the war, and the losses in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners held by each. 

Official compilation shows that there were en- 
rolled of white troops in the Union army 2,494,592 
Negro troops 178,975 

Total 2,673,567 

Of this number the white troops from the 

Southern and border states 278,923 

Negro troops 140,298 

419,221 
The e'nrollment of Confederate troops, 

estimated 700,000 

This may not be entirely correct, but is 

believed to be substantially so. 
The Union losses in killed, died from 

wounds, disease, and from other causes 360,212 
Of which the killed in action were 67,058 
Died of wounds received in action 43,012 

Died of disease 224,586 

Deaths from other causes, or 

from causes unknown 25,556 

Total 360,212 



A CONFEDERATE BOY 379 

The Confederate losses, as far as can be ascer- 
tained, though not beHeved to be entirely correct, 
were as follows: 

Killed in action 52,954 

Died of wounds 21,570 

Died of disease 59,297 

Total 133,821 

The number of Confederate prisoners 
taken and held by the Federal govern- 
ment during the war was 220,000 

Number that died in Northern prisons 
(12 per cent of the total) 26,000 

Number of Union prisoners held by Con- 
federates 270,000 

Number that died in Southern prisons 
(less than 9 per cent) 22,000 

Confederate soldiers paroled, 1865 174,223 

Number of battles and skirmishes fought during 
the war, over two thousa'nd. 

NOTE — The most of the above statistics were ob- 
tained from "Confederate Military History," edited by 
General Clement A. Evans, and from "The Century Book 
of Facts," by Ruoff. 



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